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Lab Report Assignment 2.2 , Social connectedness, conscientiousness and its effect on stress in first year university students ...

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Conscientiousness, Social Connectedness and Adjustment to University Life

Student stress in first year students and its relation to social connectedness & conscientiousness Waays Hassan s3725107 RMIT University

Student stress in first year students and its relation to social connectedness, conscientiousness and overall academic achievement

Conscientiousness, Social Connectedness and Adjustment to University Life In accordance to the most current national survey of mental health and well-being (NSMHWB) within Australia, approximately more than half of the population is affected by mental health disorders, with the most prevalent being people between the ages of 16 and 24 (Slade, Johnston, Oakley Browne, Andrews & Whiteford, 2009). More so, students going into their first year of tertiary studies have been shown to be at higher-risk of experiencing psychological stress when compared to people of equal age (Schofield, 2016). These numbers are concerning as stress can have a detrimental effect on these students’ academic performance, subsequently effecting their overall wellbeing in the future (Tosevski, Milovanceviv & Gajic, 2010). Furthermore, a student’s level of social connectedness plays a vital role on both their health and academic performance. Social connectedness referring to the relationships one maintains with others, whether that be at home, work or sporting teams etc. (Dowd, Schmader, Sylvester, Jung, Zumbo & Martin, 2014). Many factors have been previously founded as potential causes of stress within student university life, however yielded mixed findings. Among those included, the initial transition into university from a familiar setting (High School) as academic and financial responsibilities increased whilst time for leisure decreased (Gall, Evans & Bellerose, 2000), as ultimately this shock from the transition causes a fall in academic performance and rise in psychological distress (Dwyer & Cummings, 2001). Previous research (Papier, Ahmed, Lee & Wiseman, 2015) examined the “relationship between stress and food selection patterns” among first year university students in Australia and yielded the results that not only were more than half of the sample size suffering from stress, but less man suffered from stress than women in this case. Subsequently that eating processed food was a clear indicator of stressful tendencies. However, focusing more on social connectedness and its link to college students, previous research conducted (Lee, Keough, Sexton & Janel, 2002) founded that low levels of

Conscientiousness, Social Connectedness and Adjustment to University Life social connectedness played a role in increased levels of stress, however it accounted for 12% more variance in men than women where there was an insignificant correlation and was more to do with other factors. The current study aims to explore how personality and social connectedness relate to psychological stress with respect to adjustment in the first year of university. This study is being conducted due to a lack of research regarding the relationship between conscientiousness, social connectedness and psychological stress, somewhat evident through the above studies. It was hypothesized that the trait of conscientiousness would have a negative relationship with student stress. It was also hypothesized that social connectedness would have a negative relationship with student stress. Method Participants Data was collected on 403 total participants of the issued survey. However as only first year students were being analyzed, the total was then cut down to 293. These 293 participants consisted of RMIT undergraduate students. Of the 293 participants, 76 were men and 217 were women, with varying ages between 17 and 53 years of age, and a mean age of 19.89 (SD=4.26). Comprised of the sample, 283 (96.6%) participants were studying psychology as their major whilst 10 (3.4%) had other majors. Participation was optional; however, it was vital in order to complete part of the course. Materials Participants were required to complete an online questionnaire. The questionnaire comprised of 6 questions regarding their details (age, sex, university major etc.) as well as a

Conscientiousness, Social Connectedness and Adjustment to University Life scale consisting of 21 areas and how much stress they have brought on over the past month. It was produced in order to attain demographic data. Personality measure: Openness, Conscientiousness Extraversion Agreeableness Neuroticism Index Condensed (OCEANIC) (Schulze & Roberts 2006) is a 45-item scale analyzing the Five-Factor Model personality constructs. This is where participants had allocated their own “behavioral tendencies” using a Likert-scale consisting of 6 options from Never to Always. Social connectedness measure: Social Connectedness Scale – Revised (Lee, Draper, & Lee, 2001) is a 20-item list comprised of statements such as “I see people as friendly and approachable” used to assess the degree of how much the youth feel socially connected to their society. These statements would then be rated using a 6-point Likert scale ranging from 1 (strongly disagree) to 6 (strongly agree). Adjustment to University life/stress measure: University Stress Scale (Stallman, 2008) is a 21-item screening measure that assesses the effect of an array of possible stressors students may experience. Participants were required to rate using a 4-point Likert scale ranging from ‘not at all (1)’ to ‘constantly (3)’ up to how much stress these different stressors had caused them.

Procedure The 293 participants used in this study were recruited conveniently and were required to complete a questionnaire online which was said to take 10 minutes to complete. Participation in this survey was completely voluntary. Anonymity remained throughout the

Conscientiousness, Social Connectedness and Adjustment to University Life study. Participants had to meet a set criteria; RMIT University student, a first year student and enrolled in the subject Principles of Psychology. Upon completion of the survey within a certain time frame, the results were then tallied and analyzed using the Statistical Package for the Social Science program (SPSS). Results The first hypothesis predicted that there would be a negative relationship between the trait conscientiousness and student stress. There was a significant, strong, negative correlation between conscientiousness and student stress r (293) = -0.15, p = 0.09. This suggests that the less conscientious a student is the more stressed they will be. The second hypothesis predicted that social connectedness would have a negative relationship with student stress. There was an insignificant negative correlation between social connectedness and student stress r (293) = -.045, p < .001. This suggests that the less socially connected the student is the more stressed they will be.

Discussion The study in contention assessed two hypotheses: 1) the trait of conscientiousness would have a negative relationship with student stress and 2) social connectedness would have a negative relationship with student stress. Both hypotheses garnered support in this

Conscientiousness, Social Connectedness and Adjustment to University Life study as the results portray that both conscientiousness and social connectedness would have a negative relationship with student, consequently that as the two factors decrease, student stress would increase. These findings are backed up by previous research by Lee, Keough, Sexton & Janel (2001), and suggest that those experiencing more social disconnectedness in some form have increased stress levels. In terms of the method of sampling, it may have implicated the results in some way. The sample space picked consisted of psychology students, who were ultimately aware of the factors being assessed and the yearend results. This being said, it is possible that the students felt as though they had to answer in a particular way. For example, a participant could have completely answered untruthfully to change the overall mean of the findings. Possible ways to prevent any bias in the sample is to get students not studying psychology who are unaware of the study. Overall, this study suggests that both conscientiousness and social connectedness have a negative relationship with student stress, however isn’t backed sufficiently by the previous research supplied in this report.

References Cornwell, E., & Waite, L. (2009). Social Disconnectedness, Perceived Isolation, and Health among Older Adults. Journal Of Health And Social Behavior, 50(1), 31-48. doi: 10.1177/002214650905000103 Dowd, A., Schmader, T., Sylvester, B., Jung, M., Zumbo, B., Martin, L., & Beauchamp, M. (2014). Effects of Social Belonging and Task Framing on Exercise Cognitions and

Conscientiousness, Social Connectedness and Adjustment to University Life Behavior. Journal Of Sport And Exercise Psychology, 36(1), 80-92. doi: 10.1123/jsep.2013-0114 Gall, T., Evans, D., & Bellerose, S. (2000). Transition to First-Year University: Patterns of Change in Adjustment Across Life Domains and Time. Journal Of Social And Clinical Psychology, 19(4), 544-567. doi: 10.1521/jscp.2000.19.4.544 Lee, R., Keough, K., & Sexton, J. (2002). Social Connectedness, Social Appraisal, and Perceived Stress in College Women and Men. Journal Of Counseling & Development, 80(3), 355-361. doi: 10.1002/j.1556-6678.2002.tb00200.x Schofield, M., O'Halloran, P., McLean, S., Forrester-Knauss, C., & Paxton, S. (2016). Depressive Symptoms Among Australian University Students: Who Is at Risk?. Australian Psychologist, 51(2), 135-144. doi: 10.1111/ap.12129 Schofield, M., O'Halloran, P., McLean, S., Forrester-Knauss, C., & Paxton, S. (2016). Depressive Symptoms Among Australian University Students: Who Is at Risk?. Australian Psychologist, 51(2), 135-144. doi: 10.1111/ap.12129 Slade, T., Johnston, A., Oakley Browne, M., Andrews, G., & Whiteford, H. (2009). 2007 National Survey of Mental Health and Wellbeing: Methods and Key Findings. Australian & New Zealand Journal Of Psychiatry, 43(7), 594-605. doi: 10.1080/00048670902970882 Tosevski, D., Milovancevic, M., & Gajic, S. (2010). Personality and psychopathology of university students. Current Opinion In Psychiatry, 23(1), 48-52. doi: 10.1097/yco.0b013e328333d625 DWYER, Andrea L.; CUMMINGS, Anne L.. Stress, Self-Efficacy, Social Support, and Coping Strategies in University Students. Canadian Journal of Counselling and Psychotherapy / Revue canadienne de counseling et de psychothérapie, [S.l.], v. 35, n. 3, jan. 2007. ISSN 1923-6182. Available at: . Schulze, R. & Roberts, R.D. (2006). Assessing the Big Five: Development and validation of the Openness Conscientiousness Extraversion Agreeableness Neuroticism Index Condensed (OCEANIC). Zeitschrift fürPsychologie, 214(3), 133-149. doi 10.1026/0044-3409.214.3.133

St u d e n tS t r e s s

M

SD

3 8 . 9 7 1 9 . 9 4

8 . 2 9 3 . 6

8 5 . 0 1

1 5 . 7 4

Co ns c i e n t i o u s n e s s So c i a l c o n ne c t e d n e s s

Conscientiousness, Social Connectedness and Adjustment to University Life

Table 1 Mean difference scores for Student Stress, Social Connectedness & Conscientiousness

Conscientiousness, Social Connectedness and Adjustment to University Life

Conscientiousness, Social Connectedness and Adjustment to University Life

Conscientiousness, Social Connectedness and Adjustment to University Life

Conscientiousness, Social Connectedness and Adjustment to University Life...