Effects of Academic Pressure

One-hundred and thirty-three college undergraduate students completed measures of stress, affect, and health-behaviors during times of low and high academic demands. During the high-stress period, negative affect increased and positive affect decreased significantly, while health behaviors deteriorated. The strongest decrements were observed for exercise. Generally, women scored higher on “routine health behaviors” (i.e., self-care, vehicle safety, drug avoidance), but not on behaviors requiring effort (i.e., exercise, healthy nutrition). Distinct patterns of changes in health behaviors and affect were observed: decreases in exercise and self-care were accompanied by decreases in positive affect, whereas decreases in drug avoidance were associated with increases in negative affect. Decreases in the quality of nutrition were linked to both decreases in positive and increases in negative affect. These results suggest that emotional responses to stress play an important role in health behavior change and should be considered in the design of health-promoting programs.

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“Everyday stress” is a normal reaction to a variety of situations that we encounter in the real world, and can even be beneficial, motivating us to accomplish a task, or to avoid a situation that might be harmful. However chronic stress can lead to long-term health issues, affecting both physical and mental health – and can also negatively impact school performance, extracurricular activities, and relationships with family and friends. While it’s not possible to completely remove all of the stress from our lives, the good news is that there are strategies that students (and their parents!) can use to help manage their stress and improve academic performance.