Exploring Greek University Students' Stress: Stressors, Reactions to Stressors, Management Strategies, Impact on...

Stress has negative effects on University students' mental health and academic progress. The aim of this study was to investigate Greek University students' stress. Specifically, the levels of students' stress, the reactions to stressors, the management strategies, and the impact of stress on student well-being were investigated. The study sample was recruited from the student community of Greek public Universities (all levels of study and from different academic fields). Students were invited to participate in online research on social media and were given the hyperlink leading to a Google Form. Data collection was carried out in November 2020, during the COVID-19 lockdown in Greece. Participating students were asked to complete the following five questionnaires: 1. Questionnaire of demographic and other characteristics (gender, age, level/year of study, smoking habits, marital status, if they work, if they live alone), 2. Student-Life Stress Inventory (Revised-SSI-R), 3. Perceived Stress Scale (PSS), 4. World Health Organisation-Five Well-Being Index (WHO-5), and 5. Brief COPE (an abbreviated version of the COPE Inventory).The study involved 610 students (433 women, 71.0%), aged 18-65 years (average age 23.29 years, SD 6.77 years). Specifically, 478 were undergraduate students (78.4%), 101 Master's students (16.5%), and 31 PhD students (5.1%), 94.1% were unmarried, 9.5% worked, 35.2% were living alone, and 18.4% were smokers. Overall, students' stress was assessed as mild for 149 of the students (24.4%), moderate for 313 students (51.3%), and severe for 148 students (24.3%). Results demonstrated that stressors, such as the feeling of pressure, changes in life, and self-imposed factors threaten normal student life. Also, differences were found in the perception of stress, the reaction to it, its management according to students' gender/year/level of study/work/living conditions, and the negative impact of stress on students' well-being. Linear regression analysis showed that well-being, as measured by the WHO-5, could be predicted by the overall scale of the SSI-R, and more specifically, this impact was negative. A statistically significant function was found [F (1,609) = 104.263, p < 0.001], R² = 0.146. These findings highlight the need for competent counseling and psychological support bodies in the Universities, to reduce the negative stressors, and build students' resilience and stress management skills.