Relationship between academic stress and coping strategies among students of Federal University of Lafia, Nigeria

Abstract

Globally, students experience varying levels of pervasive and persistent stress predominantly related to their academics, which can have a significant impact on their lives and even their academic output. This study examined the relationship between academic stress and coping strategies of students in Federal University of Lafia, Nasarawa State. The descriptive crosssectional survey design was employed. Using the stratified and simple random sampling methods, 200 regular male and female undergraduate students were engaged to participate in the study. The study was guide by two research question and two hypotheses. Both the questionnaire and in-depth interview are the instrument for data collection while the Pearson
‘r’ product moment correlation analysis was used to test the hypothesis. It was found that undergraduate students, in one way or the other, go through some kind of academic stress during the course of their study. It was also discovered that students’ academic stress is significantly correlated with their poor academic performance in Federal University of Lafia, Nasarawa State. Based on the findings of the study, the study recommend that the University management should provide more avenues or opportunities for student to engage in extracurricular activities.