Students' Coping Strategies in Response to Academic Stress: A Study of Psychological Mechanisms and Their Effects on Adaptation
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.57125/FS.2025.09.20.02Keywords:
stress, stress-coping strategies, youth, stress resistance, adaptation, resources.Abstract
Psychological difficulties are becoming increasingly acute across Ukrainian society, particularly in the context of the Russian-Ukrainian war, which has created profound challenges for higher education. Modern academic programmes often demand high productivity, placing heavy pressure on students and contributing to fatigue, stress, and psychological strain. Additional stressors include social expectations, uncertainty over career prospects, and the daily struggle to balance studies, employment, and personal life. In such conditions, effective stress management becomes crucial for maintaining academic performance, personal well-being, and overall resilience. This study investigates the typology and effectiveness of stress management strategies among higher education students. It applies both theoretical analysis and empirical research, combining questionnaires and surveys with mathematical and statistical approaches, including descriptive, comparative, and correlation analyses. The research involved 80 psychology students, aged between 17 and 23 years, comprising 40% males and 60% females, across the full range of first to fourth year. Empirical results indicate that students tend to prefer passive coping mechanisms, including avoidance and distraction. While these may provide short-term relief from psychological discomfort, they fail to resolve underlying causes and, in the long run, intensify anxiety, as confirmed by correlation analysis. Social support was found to strengthen emotional well-being but did not significantly reduce stress or anxiety, suggesting its limited effectiveness as an independent coping tool. The findings highlight the importance of cultivating active stress management strategies, including self-organisation, problem analysis, and decision-making skills, which enable students to address difficulties constructively. This research is distinctive in being conducted during a full-scale military invasion, when the educational environment underwent profound change, shifting between classroom and online formats, while students simultaneously faced unprecedented psycho-emotional strain arising from continuous threats to their safety, health, and family stability.
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