stress in college students statistics 2022

Psychoneuroendocrinology 31, 151178. A growing body of evidence suggests that academic-related stress plays a significant role in college (Misra and McKean, 2000; Dusselier et al., 2005; Elias et al., 2011; Bedewy and Gabriel, 2015; Hj Ramli et al., 2018; Reddy et al., 2018; Pascoe et al., 2020). Competition, anxiety, and depression in the college classroom: variations by student identity and field of study. Stress, anxiety, and depression among undergraduate students during the COVID-19 pandemic and their use of mental health services. (2020). (2022). Positive mental health is an understudied but important area that helps paint a more comprehensive picture of overall mental health (Tennant et al., 2007; Margraf et al., 2020). 292, 113298. doi: 10.1016/j.psychres.2020.113298, Pedrelli, P., Nyer, M., Yeung, A., Zulauf, C., and Wilens, T. (2015). Table 1. Studies regarding broad concepts of stress and well-being using a questionnaire are limited, but our study adds value to the understanding of academic stress as a contributor to the overall well-being of college students during this specific point in time (i.e., the COVID-19 pandemic). The mean of the sample on the total academic stress score was 53.46 (SD=25.70) as reflected in table 1. Short Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Well-being Scale (SWEMWBS): performance in a clinical sample in relation to PHQ-9 and GAD-7. Ultimately, we hope our research spurs readers into advocating for greater academic support and access to group-specific mental health resources to reduce the stress levels of college students and improve their mental well-being. The transition to adulthood. Sources of stress and their associations with mental disorders among college students: results of the World Health Organization World Mental Health Surveys International College Student Initiative. Getting a good nights sleep is a key part of Gender Divers. Examining perceptions of academic stress and its sources among university students: the perception of academic stress scale. 5, 150155 doi: 10.32674/jimphe.v5i1.2576, Verma, R., Balhara, Y. P., and Gupta, C. S. (2011). Res. PLoS ONE 16, e0254215. doi: 10.1016/S0149-7634(00)00014-2, Stewart-Brown, S., and Janmohamed, K. (2008). 66, 371403. A repository of mental health and wellness resources from Bradley University, including resources on suicide prevention, depression, eating disorders, alcohol and drug abuse prevention, and anxiety and stress management. 12, 87100. A total of 1,023 individuals enrolled in the survey. College students are exposed to novel academic stressors, such as an extensive academic course load, substantial studying, time management, classroom competition, financial concerns, familial pressures, and adapting to a new environment (Misra and Castillo, 2004; Byrd and McKinney, 2012; Ekpenyong et al., 2013; Bedewy and Gabriel, 2015; Ketchen Lipson et al., 2015; Pedrelli et al., 2015; Reddy et al., 2018; Liu, C. H., et al., 2019; Freire et al., 2020; Karyotaki et al., 2020). Calculating and reporting effect sizes to facilitate cumulative science: a practical primer for t-tests and ANOVAs. doi: 10.1002/wps.20231, Gao, W., Ping, S., and Liu, X. 70, 206216. Rev. 1, 607628. Associations between academic stressors, reaction to stress, coping strategies and musculoskeletal disorders among college students. 35. J. Coll. Concerns of poor data quality due to surveys offering financial incentives found little evidence to support that claim and may do the opposite (Cole et al., 2015). XM contributed to conceptualization, study design, IRB application, supervision of the project, manuscript drafting, and revision. One of the states In terms of internal consistency, Cronbach's alpha was 0.82 for the SMEMWBS and 0.86 for the PAS. SWEMWBS and PAS scores for all participants. Satisficing is a response strategy in which a participant answers a question to satisfy its condition with little regard to the quality or accuracy of the answer (Roberts et al., 2019). Academic stress may be the single most dominant stress factor that affects the mental well-being of college students. The Short Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Well-Being Scale is a seven-item scale designed to measure mental well-being and positive mental health (Tennant et al., 2007; Fung, 2019; Shah et al., 2021). Tennant, R., Hiller, L., Fishwick, R., Platt, S., Joseph, S., Weich, S., et al. (2002). Mental health disparities among college students of color. Ind. Ethiop. doi: 10.1177/1403494817735391, Roberts, C., Gilbert, E., Allum, N., and Eisner, L. (2019). Coping strategies and self-efficacy in university students: a person-centered approach. Res. Any product that may be evaluated in this article, or claim that may be made by its manufacturer, is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher. To our knowledge, the majority of other prior studies with similar findings examined different components of stress, studied negative mental health indicators, used different scales or methods, employed smaller sample sizes, or were conducted in different countries (Li and Lin, 2003; American Psychological Association, 2020; Husky et al., 2020; Pascoe et al., 2020; Patsali et al., 2020; Clabaugh et al., 2021; Lee et al., 2021; Lopes and Nihei, 2021; Yang et al., 2021). Given the positive correlation, a multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) with a model testing the main effects of gender, race/ethnicity, and year of study was run in SPSS v 26.0. The mental health of university students during the COVID-19 pandemic: an online survey in the UK. Lifespan Development: A Psychological Perspective. Implications for college counseling services. This study examined the relationship between financial stress and student retention for post-secondary students. The coronavirus disease 19 (COVID-19) pandemic is a major stressor that has led to a mental health crisis (American Psychological Association, 2020; Dong and Bouey, 2020). doi: 10.1038/nbt.4089, Freire, C., Ferrads, M., Regueiro, B., Rodrguez, S., Valle, A., and Nez, J. C. (2020). Affect. Data from 2014 collected at a Pacific Northwest University using The Ohio State's National Student Financial Wellness Study were used to examine the students reported levels of stress related to finances. The methodology used is a cumulative literature review structured over 10 systematic phases, and is replicable. Clin. Students who reported higher academic stress also reported worse mental well-being in general, irrespective of age, gender, race/ethnicity, or year of study. PLoS ONE 16, e0258493. Chapter 7: Emerging and Early Adulthood. Psychol. Furthermore, women and non-binary students reported higher academic stress than men, as indicated by PAS scores. According to a 2015 American College Health Association-National College Health Assessment survey, three in four college students self-reported feeling stressed, while one in five college students reported stress-related suicidal ideation (Liu, C. H., et al., 2019; American Psychological Association, 2020). Financial stress is a major stressor. Telemental health resources across colleges can also be implemented to reduce stigma and improve at-risk students' access to care (Toscos et al., 2018; Hadler et al., 2021). PLoS ONE 17, e0262562. For instance, studies showed that Black/African American, Hispanic/Latino, and Asian American students disclose fewer mental health issues than white students (Liu, C. H., et al., 2019; Lee et al., 2021). 271, 502509. J. Econ. For instance, female college students report experiencing increased stress than their male counterparts (Misra et al., 2000; Eisenberg et al., 2007; Evans et al., 2018; Lee et al., 2021). 4, 863. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2013.00863. Anxiety and depression are the two most common reasons that students seek mental health services, according to the Center for Collegiate Mental Health 2017 Annual Report from Penn State University. On happiness and human potentials: a review of research on hedonic and eudaimonic well-being. doi: 10.1016/j.copsyc.2015.10.009, Hunt, C., Gibson, G. C., Vander Horst, A., Cleveland, K. A., Wawrosch, C., Granot, M., et al. This is particularly true for groups that have been disproportionately impacted by academic stress and stress due to the pandemic. Rev. 1. Further exploring the relationship between academic stress and mental well-being is important because poor mental well-being has been shown to affect academic performance in college (Tennant et al., 2007; Eisenberg et al., 2009; Freire et al., 2016). 79% of surveyed students reported they had experienced moderate or high stress levels within the last 30 days. Trauma 12, S239S242. Top 10 Stress Statistics for 2022 The lowest stress levels are recorded in adults older than 72. Playing the admissions game: student reactions to increasing college competition. In addition, the combined measures differed significantly between the groups in each category (Table 2). While any college student is vulnerable to these stressors, these concerns are amplified for members of minority groups (Salerno et al., 2020; Clabaugh et al., 2021; McQuaid et al., 2021; Prowse et al., 2021; Kodish et al., 2022). (2021). This study was made possible by a generous donation from the Knights of Columbus East Hanover Chapter in New Jersey. doi: 10.1080/15532739.2019.1630346, Kajantie, E., and Phillips, D. I. Mindfulness is being Int. doi: 10.1353/csd.2016.0094, Prowse, R., Sherratt, F., Abizaid, A., Gabrys, R. L., Hellemans, K., Patterson, Z. R., et al. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0254215, Joinson, A.. (1999). doi: 10.3758/BF03200723, Jones, B. Molla Jafar, H., Salabifard, S., Mousavi, S. M., and Sobhani, Z. While APAs data suggest persistent workplace stress has contributed to reduced efficacy and exhaustion, Michael P. Leiter, PhD, an honorary professor of Almost nine in 10 college students think campuses Full-time college students were much less likely to participate in the labor force in October 2022 than were part-time students. Additionally, in a study published by The Harvard Medical School of over 67,000 college students, three out of four students reported experiencing at Am. Adv. Total college enrollment (graduate and undergraduate) has fallen 5.7% since fall 2019, the semester before the pandemic started. [Epub ahead of print]. Table 3. Front. 19.5% of college students have vaped marijuana. doi: 10.1016/j.jad.2012.11.026, Ringdal, R., Bradley Eilertsen, M. E., Bjrnsen, H. N., Espnes, G. A., and Moksnes, U. K. (2018). First, to determine whether a relationship exists between the two constructs of perceived academic stress, measured by the Perception of Academic Stress Scale (PAS), and mental well-being, measured by the Short Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Well-Being Scale (SWEMWBS), in college students. doi: 10.1080/07448481.2016.1227826, Huang, C. Y., and Zane, N. (2016). doi: 10.5539/gjhs.v8n6p47. 69, No. We settled on four variables of interest: gender, race/ethnicity, year in school, and response to the COVID-19 pandemic (Table 1). Depress. Moreover, positive mental health has been shown to be predictive of both negative and positive mental health indicators over time (Margraf et al., 2020). J. Psychol. doi: 10.1080/07448481.2015.1040411, Kodish, T., Lau, A. S., Gong-Guy, E., Congdon, E., Arnaudova, I., Schmidt, M., et al. Available online at: http://dept.clcillinois.edu/psy/LifespanDevelopment.pdf (accessed February 6, 2022). 6,178187. (2019). Undergraduate enrollment decreased by 7.6% during that same period. Med. A. J. Psychiatry Res. Predictability and human stress: toward a clarification of evidence and theory. 80% of millennials are stressed about money, as millennials stress Defeyter, M. A., Stretesky, P. B., Long, M. A., Furey, S., Reynolds, C., Porteous, D., et al. Front. *Correspondence: Keith W. Pecor, pecor@tcnj.edu, These authors have contributed equally to this work and share first authorship, Understanding Socioemotional And Academic Adjustment During Childhood And Adolescence: Volume II, View all doi: 10.2307/2136658, Wyatt, T. J., Oswalt, S. B., and Ochoa, Y. 8, 238244. Stress in AmericaTM2020: A National Mental Health Crisis. Emerging adulthood. Among the subgroups of students, women, non-binary students, and second-year students reported higher academic stress levels and worse mental well-being (Table 2; Figures 24). Psychiatry 12, 810274. doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2021.810274, Smith, K. M., Chesin, M. S., and Jeglic, E. L. (2014). 24, 417463. According to the American Psychological Association, in 2022, about 80% of post-pandemic college students remained stressed, often exhibiting related health problems. Behav. Q. Other studies support our findings and suggest higher stress levels could be attributed to increased studying and difficulties with time management, as well as having less well-established social support networks and coping mechanisms compared to upperclassmen (Allen and Hiebert, 1991; Misra and McKean, 2000; Liu, X et al., 2019). 1 College of Art, Hunan City University, Yiyang, China; 2 School of Educational Science, Hunan Normal University, Changsha, China; Based on the background of the continuous development of COVID-19 pandemic, the effect of academic stress on anxiety of college students, as well as the mediating and moderating role of psychological capital are discussed, so as to Different letters for SWEMWBS scores indicate different statistical groupings (p < 0.05). Stress and social support. Stress and coping in adolescents. Behav. Copyright 2022 Barbayannis, Bandari, Zheng, Baquerizo, Pecor and Ming. The effects of sex and hormonal status on the physiological response to acute psychosocial stress. Arnett, J. J.. (2000). 8, 131136. We also thank all the participants for their efforts in the completion of the study. (2018). World Psychiatry 14, 231233. doi: 10.1016/j.neuroscience.2017.07.058, Bedewy, D., and Gabriel, A. doi: 10.1037/sgd0000461, Husky, M. M., Kovess-Masfety, V., and Swendsen, J. D. (2020). Our findings suggest that colleges should consider offering tailored mental health resources, such as time management and study skill workshops, based on the year of study to improve students' stress levels and psychological well-being (Liu, X et al., 2019). Am. In college, anxiety is the primary worry for counseling services. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0258493, Margraf, J., Zhang, X. C., Lavallee, K. L., and Schneider, S. (2020). A review of the effectiveness of stress management skills training on academic vitality and psychological well-being of college students. Annu. The adolescent brain and age-related behavioral manifestations. Instead, our results may reflect the low sample size of non-white races/ethnicities, which may not have given enough statistical power to corroborate. Transl. An exploratory study of stress coping and resiliency of black men at one medical school: a critical race theory perspective. J. Program evaluation of a student-led peer support service at a Canadian university. J. Org. Moreover, our pre-screening was designed to recruit undergraduate level, English-speaking, 1830-year-olds who resided in the United States. University campuses, professors, and counselors should consider focusing on fostering a more equitable and inclusive environment to encourage marginalized students to seek mental health support (Budge et al., 2020). 48, 12731296. Meta-analytic evaluation of stress reduction interventions for undergraduate and graduate students. Biobehav. Figure 1. Negga, F., Applewhite, S., and Livingston, I. Mental Health Statistics for LGBTQIA+ Students. 34% of college students have been diagnosed with anxiety. Educ. 57, 973989. Stress overload, the pathogenic Sometimes referred to as the anxious generation, todays generation of college students and young professionals are actually much more likely to talk about mental health than their parents or grandparents. (2007) concluded that African American college students were more susceptible to higher academic stress levels than their white classmates (Negga et al., 2007). A total of 957 students completed measures of motivation, sense of purpose, academic adjustment, grit, and COVID-related stress across 7 semesters. The U.S. Department of Education (Department) today announced Project School Emergency Response to Violence (Project SERV) grants to four Historically Black 2 One in four students reported being diagnosed with a mental illness. College students' academic stress and its relation to their anxiety, time management, and leisure satisfaction. 23, 98112. This relationship was most apparent among gender and grade levels. Our results also align with prior studies that found similar subgroups of students experience disproportionate pandemic-related distress (Gao et al., 2020; Clabaugh et al., 2021; Hunt et al., 2021; Jarrett et al., 2021; Lee et al., 2021; Chen and Lucock, 2022). Counsel. Comput. Interventions to reduce stress in university students: a review and meta-analysis. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms. Soc. doi: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2016.05.020, Ruthig, J. C., Haynes, T. L., Stupnisky, R. H., and Perry, R. P. (2009). 20, 11151134. New York, NY: Springer. doi: 10.1146/annurev.so.12.080186.000545, Houston, J. These results indicate that academic stress in college is significantly correlated to psychological well-being in the students who responded to this survey. J. Using Self-Determination Theory, the present study provided a more nuanced examination of the pandemics motivational effect by measuring actual change in six distinct types of motivation. We understand that not every student completes their undergraduate studies in 4 years, but we did not want to have a mixture of undergraduate and graduate students with no way to differentiate them. GB and MB contributed to conceptualization, study design, IRB application, manuscript drafting, and revision. Int. (2008). Allen, S., and Hiebert, B. doi: 10.1007/s10459-015-9591-3, Posselt, J. R., and Lipson, S. K. (2016). (Healthy Minds Network) Due to constant exposure to stress and trauma, many college students in the US are diagnosed with anxiety. Stud. Misra, R., and McKean, M. (2000). 57, 293301. An Ohio State study found that burnout rates increased from 40% of students in August of 2020 to an astonishing 71% in April of 2021. 26, 132145. J. Higher vocational college students face more life stress, which can easily result in depression and hinder their healthy growth. Nurse Educ. Lally, M., and Valentine-French, S. (2019). Anxiety 36, 817. Two were not in the 1830 age range, and one was located outside of the United States. Psychiatry J. (1991). [6] Since 2006-2007, the dropout rate for first-time, full-time, first-year undergraduates has decreased almost five percentage points. Educ. Compr. Dev. But, it doesnt have to be. Mental health pathways are numerous and complex, and are composed of distinct and interdependent negative and positive indicators that should be considered together (Margraf et al., 2020). Late adolescence and emerging adulthood are transitional periods marked by major physiological and psychological changes, including elevated stress (Hogan and Astone, 1986; Arnett, 2000; Shanahan, 2000; Spear, 2000; Scales et al., 2015; Romeo et al., 2016; Barbayannis et al., 2017; Chiang et al., 2019; Lally and Valentine-French, 2019; Matud et al., 2020). Elias, H., Ping, W. S., and Abdullah, M. C. (2011). (2007). Front. 12, 628787. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2021.628787. Does Use of Survey Incentives Degrade Data Quality? For gender, men were less likely than women or non-binary individuals to report increased stress from COVID-19 (2= 27.98, df = 2, p < 0.001). Educ. Soc. Of the 906 full-time students, 58 indicated that they were in their fifth year of college or higher. High. J. Transgender. Of the college students receiving counseling services, 41.6% are seen for anxiety. 12, 233249. KP contributed to data analysis, table and figure preparation, manuscript drafting, and revision. Biomed Pharmacol J 11, 1. doi: 10.13005/bpj/1404, Regehr, C., Glancy, D., and Pitts, A. doi: 10.1016/j.jad.2019.11.121, Graves, B. S., Hall, M. E., Dias-Karch, C., Haischer, M. H., and Apter, C. (2021). Measuring mental well-being in Denmark: validation of the original and short version of the Warwick-Edinburgh mental well-being scale (WEMWBS and SWEMWBS) and cross-cultural comparison across four European settings. Psychol. Academic stress of college students: Comparison of student and faculty perceptions. Psychiatry 39, 503511. Specifically, non-binary individuals and second-year students were disproportionately impacted by academic stress. doi: 10.1257/jep.23.4.119, Brown, D. L.. (2008). All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. doi: 10.1002/(SICI)1099-1379(199909)20:5<739::AID-JOB1949>3.0.CO;2-C, Phang, C. K., Mukhtar, F., Ibrahim, N., Keng, S. L., and Mohd Sidik, S. (2015). For instance, as many as 87% of college students surveyed across the United States cited education as their primary source of stress (American Psychological Association, 2020). Social desirability, anonymity, and Internet-based questionnaires. Since the Uvalde school shooting in May 2022, there have been 66 shootings in schools across the country, including on college campuses, and 41 shootings at K-12 J. Other interventions that have been effective in improving the coping skills of college students include cognitive-behavioral therapy, mindfulness mediation, and online coping tools (Kang et al., 2009; Regehr et al., 2013; Molla Jafar et al., 2015; Phang et al., 2015; Houston et al., 2017; Yusufov et al., 2019; Freire et al., 2020). doi: 10.4103/0253-7176.85392, Barbayannis, G., Franco, D., Wong, S., Galdamez, J., Romeo, R. D., and Bauer, E. P. (2017). While several studies indicate that racial/ethnic minority groups of students, including Black/African American, Hispanic/Latino, and Asian American students, are more likely to experience anxiety, depression, and suicidality than their white peers (Lesure-Lester and King, 2004; Lipson et al., 2018; Liu, C. H., et al., 2019; Kodish et al., 2022), these studies are limited and often report mixed or inconclusive findings (Liu, C. H., et al., 2019; Kodish et al., 2022). Finally, we used chi-square analyses to assess the effect of potential differences in the perception of the COVID-19 pandemic on stress levels in general among the groups in each category (gender, race/ethnicity, and year of study). Academic stress and its sources among university students. High. Heightened blood pressure and heartbeat. Reports say that up to 90% of the suicides that college students commit are related to substance abuse and mental disorders. (2015). The utilization of well-established scales and a large sample size are strengths of this study. The effectiveness of a stress coping program based on mindfulness meditation on the stress, anxiety, and depression experienced by nursing students in Korea. (Association for University and College Counseling Center Directors, 2012) Medical causes of anxiety. A variety of descriptors have been applied to Cronbach's alpha values. Sex. Stud. Stress can make people feel anxious, but it can also be a good thing. (2021). Health Qual. J. Third- and fourth-year students were intermediate and not statistically different from the other two groups (Figure 4). Perception of academic stress varies among different groups of college students (Lee et al., 2021). 51 percent said theyre more stressed in 2022 than they were in 2021 64 percent said they intend on seeking support for their mental health 70 percent said theyre Identifying students at greatest risk provides opportunities to offer support, resources, and mental health services to specific subgroups. Int. B. That said, 0.7 is often considered a threshold value in terms of acceptable internal consistency, and our values could be considered high or good (Taber, 2018). 10, 4974. doi: 10.3390/jcm10214974, Syed, N. B.. (2021). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. 13. Stud. Coll. 41, 823. An additional limitation is that the participants in our study were a convenience sample. Resilience and mental well-being during the COVID-19 pandemic: serial mediation by persistent thinking and anxiety about coronavirus. Some signs of acute stress include: Stomach pain, such as heartburn, diarrhea, or acid stomach. (2021). In a recent study published in Depression and Anxiety of more than 67,000 college students from more than 100 institutions, one in five students have had thoughts of suicide, with 9% making an attempt and nearly 20% reporting self-injury. Counsel. This is not to say that teachers experience no stress, but that their stress levels are no worseand perhaps even betterthan college-educated women in other professions. doi: 10.1146/annurev.psych.52.1.141, Saleh, D., Camart, N., and Romo, L. (2017). Am. Opin. Nat. (2021). More specifically, non-binary and second-year students experienced greater academic burden and lower psychological well-being. The aim of this research work is to illustrate academic and social risk factors and how they prove to be predictors of anxiety and depressive disorders. Because it is so common and lasts for a short amount of time, acute stress is usually simple to manage and treat. (2019). Neurosci. 83, 598626. Figure 2. students to delay enrollment in college,14 and colleges and universities struggle to address the financial needs of enrolled students. Adm. Policy Ment. J. Sci. Playing sports, journaling, painting, cooking, or drawing can help pupils get relief from the pressures of college life. Health Qual. Around 2.9% of students reported using antidepressants in the past year, with a gender ratio being 3.1% and 2% for female and male students who took antidepressants, respectively. Lipson, S. K., Kern, A., Eisenberg, D., and Breland-Noble, A. M. (2018). Third, the SWEMSBS used in our study and the data only measured positive mental health. doi: 10.1016/j.sbspro.2011.11.288, Evans, T. M., Bira, L., Gastelum, J. Front. College students stress statistics from the American College Health Association study show that almost half of the students in the US are experiencing Psychiatry Res. J. Academic stress may be the single most dominant stress factor that affects the mental well-being of college students. 16, 4151. Like workplace burnout, burnout amongst college students has taken a huge leap over the last few years. doi: 10.1016/j.psyneuen.2005.07.002, Kang, Y. S., Choi, S. Y., and Ryu, E. (2009). The Perception of Academic Stress Scale is an 18-item scale designed to assess sources of academic stress perceived by individuals and measures three main academic stressors: academic expectations, workload and examinations, and academic self-perceptions of students (Bedewy and Gabriel, 2015). California is no exception to that trend: The states system of 116 community colleges lost about 15% of its enrollment in the 2020-21 academic year. 11, 132148. This resulted in our participant demographics being skewed toward the WEIRD bias that was already inherent in the testing service we used. (2021). This yielded a final sample of 843 college students. doi: 10.1080/07448481.2011.584334, Cage, E., Stock, M., Sharpington, A., Pitman, E., and Batchelor, R. (2020). An examination of attributions and emotions in the transactional approach to the organizational stress process. Educ. Int. Male and female students also respond differently to stressors (Misra et al., 2000; Verma et al., 2011). Therefore, more studies should be conducted to address this gap in research to help identify subgroups that may be disproportionately impacted by academic stress and lower well-being. Additionally, these studies should consider examining other non-academic stressors and students' coping mechanisms, both of which contribute to mental health and well-being (Lazarus and Folkman, 1984; Freire et al., 2020). An overwhelming body of evidence suggests that the majority of college students experienced increased stress levels and worsening mental health as a result of the pandemic (Allen and Hiebert, 1991; American Psychological Association, 2020; Husky et al., 2020; Patsali et al., 2020; Son et al., 2020; Clabaugh et al., 2021; Lee et al., 2021; Yang et al., 2021).