Sources of stress and coping strategies employed by undergraduate students over a semester: motivations and implications for academic success
Abstract
This study is the first to examine students' motivations for choosing coping strategies across a semester, revealing that strategies traditionally labeled "problem-focused" or "emotion-focused" often serve dual purposes: enhancing both well-being and academic productivity. Coping strategy use shifted markedly over time, with exercise emerging as the most relied-upon approach. Notably, using a greater number of coping strategies, rather than any specific strategy, positively correlated with higher academic performance.
Fields of Study & Subjects
Perfectionism
Procrastination
Anxiety Studies
Sport Psychology and Performance
Healthcare professionals’ stress and burnout
Publication details
- Journal / source
- AJP Advances in Physiology Education
- Publisher
- American Physiological Society
- Volume
- 50
- Issue
- 2
- Pages
- 341–351
- Publication date
- 4 February 2026
- Language
- EN