IRANIAN STUDENTS' STRESS: ACCESS TO SUPPORTIVE RESOURCES AND STRATEGIES FOR COPING

Abstract

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to determine the relationship between access to social support and coping strategies with stress.
Method: This research is a cross-sectional study which was done on 3 7 5 students in Islamic Azad University in North of Iran. The multi-stage cluster was sampling method in this study. The data collected were based on three standard questionnaires about student-life stress, coping strategy and social support. The result was analyzed by Regression and correlation coefficient using SPSS version 16.
Results: The results showed that though majority of the samples were male (73. 9% ), there was no significant difference between stress management of male and female (p>O. 05). In addition, there is a significant negative relationship, between stress and access to social support (p=O. 000). Stress also had a significant negative relationship with coping strategies (p=O. 000). The stepwise regression analysis revealed that the predictor variables can explain 15% of the students' stress variance.
Conclusion: The phenomenon of students' stress is important because, student health, affect the health of the community. These results may be beneficial, for educational institutions to provide support and help them to cope adverse situation. This study will help to formulate strategies and counselling methods necessary for decreasing the stress of the students.