Stress and the College Student

College Students & Stress

  • Think about your undergraduate experience…
  • What would you list as top 3 negative influences on your academic performance?

The Younger Adult College Student

  • Common Stressors:
    • Lifestyle changes
    • Grades
    • Course overload
    • Managing finances
    • Making friends
    • Love and sex stressors
    • Social interactions
    • Breakups
    • Disordered eating
  • Not Mentioned
    • COVID
    • Racial injustices
    • Academic inequity
    • Immigration related issues
    • Politics
    • Familial expectations
    • Cultural expectations

The Older Adult College Student

  • Overlapping Stressors
    • Grades
    • Course overload
    • Social interactions
    • Breakups
  • Unique Stressors
    • Balancing school and career
    • Managing family and school responsibilities
    • Doubting abilities to reengage in school

Experiences of BIPOC Students

  • BIPOC: Black, Indigenous, and People of Color
  • Problems within the Academic System:
    • Perpetuates white westernized norms
    • Microaggressions, aggressions, and racism
    • Lack of representation
    • Recruitment BIPOC students without proper support
    • Safety

Interventions

  • Life-Situation Interventions
    • Make stress management a routine
    • Find community
  • Perception Interventions
    • Question perception and alternative perspectives
    • Choose to see what’s helpful along with what’s hurtful
    • Smell the roses (literally & figuratively)
    • Map out responsibilities
  • Emotional Arousal Interventions
    • Relaxation techniques
  • Physiological Arousal Interventions
    • Exercise
    • Movement

Breathe Bubble

  • breathe in