Well-being and academic stress in higher education students: interview and diary study

Academic stress profoundly affects students' mental health and well-being, often contributing to student attrition. While much research focuses on Western universities, higher education in Slovakia and the Czech Republic remains underexplored in this context. This study aimed to identify sources of academic stress, examine coping strategies, and explore aspects supporting or hindering well-being among university students in these countries.

Eleven semi-structured interviews with students from Slovak and Czech universities were analyzed using reflexive thematic analysis. Seven also kept weekly diaries over five months, enabling chronological tracking of stress and coping. Content analysis revealed five themes tied to semester periods and showing how stressors and coping shifted over time.

Key stressors included exams, procrastination, time management, and balancing academic work, and leisure commitments. Coping strategies ranged from organizational skills to maladaptive behaviors like substance use and social withdrawal. Protective conditions included supportive environments, innovative teaching methods, and recognition of stress.

Study highlights the importance of addressing academic stress and provides one of the first longitudinal qualitative accounts from Slovak and Czech universities, combining interviews and diaries to capture culturally specific and universal stressors, coping fluctuations, and the need for integrated institutional and personal strategies.