Stress, Health Behaviours and Accademic Success

Cilj istraživanja je provjeriti postoji li povezanost između uspješnosti studiranja, izloženosti stresu, načina suočavanja sa stresom i zdravstvenog ponašanja. U istraživanju je sudjelovalo 125 studenata diplomskih studija Sveučilišta u Zagrebu (69 ženskih i 56 muških) između 21 i 27 godine. Način odabira uzorka je prigodan te je ispitivanje provedeno grupno na fakultetima tijekom nastave i pod pauzama. Za potrebe istraživanja izrađen je upitnik koji se sastoji od 4 mjere promatranih varijabli: uspješnost studiranja određuje procjena osobne uspješnosti na čestici i prosjek ocjena; izloženost stresu mjerena Ljestvicom stresnih životnih događaja izrađenom za potrebe ovog istraživanja; način suočavanja sa stresom mjeren je adaptiranom verzijom Upitnika za ispitivanje suočavanja sa stresnim situacijama (Coping Orientation to Problems Experienced - COPE); zdravstveno ponašanje ispitano je Ljestvicom zdravstvenog ponašanja, također izrađenom za potrebe istraživanja. U istraživanju su dobiveni sljedeći rezultati: Uspješnost studiranja kreće se oko prosjeka, a izloženost stresu je mala. Što se tiče načina suočavanja sa stresom najviše se koristi suočavanje s problemom te je zdravstveno ponašanje u prosjeku. Postoji statistički značajna korelacija između prosjeka ocjena na kraju preddiplomskog studija i sljedećih varijabli: suočavanja sa emocijama, izbjegavanja suočavanja s problemom, osobne uspješnosti; između osobne uspješnosti i sljedećih varijabli: izloženosti stresu, suočavanja s problemom, kretanja; između izloženosti stresu i: suočavanja s emocijama, kretanja i suočavanja s emocijama. Što se tiče postojanja zajedničkih faktora u skupu promatranih varijabli izlučena su 2 faktora kojima je objašnjeno 45.76% zajedničke varijance. Dobivena je statistički značajna razlika: u načinu suočavanja sa stresom s obzirom na spol; između sudionika u načinu suočavanja sa stresom s obzirom na uspješnost studiranja; u pojedinim oblicima zdravstvenog ponašanja s obzirom na spol. Pri predviđanju uspješnosti studiranja u skupu prediktora značajnim pozitivnim prediktorom pokazalo se suočavanje s emocijama. Ovi rezultati imaju primjenu u području poboljšanja kvalitete života i zdravlja mladih, ali i šire populacije.The main aim of this research is to identify the existence of correlation between the academic success, exposure to stress, coping with stress and health behaviour. In the research, 125 students of graduate studies of University of Zagreb participated (69 male and 56 female), aged between 21 and 27 years. The convenience sample was used and the research was conducted in groups during lectures and lunch brakes. For the purpose of this research, the questionnaire was developed, which consists of four measures of observed variables: success in studying, which is defined by the self-evaluation of personal success on the scale and grade point average (GPA); exposure to stress measured by the Scale of Stressful Life Situations created for the purposes of this research; stress-coping strategies measured by an adopted version of the Questionnaire of coping with stressful situations (Coping Orientation to Problems Experienced - COPE); health behaviour examined by the Scale of healthy behaviour. The following results were reported: the success of students is average and exposure to stress is low. When talking about the stress-coping strategies, in most cases the problem-facing coping strategy was used. Furthermore, health behaviour of participants is average. There was a statistically significant correlation between GPA at the end of undergraduate programme and the following variables: coping with emotions, problem-avoiding coping and personal success. The statistically significant correlation was also shown between personal success and the following variables: exposure to stress, coping with the problem, physical activity; and between exposure to stress and coping with emotions as well as physical activity. Regarding the existence of common factors in the set of observed variables, two factors were extracted which explained 45.76% of the common variance. A statistically significant difference was shown: in coping with stress regarding gender; between participants in coping stress strategies in respect to success in studying; in certain forms of health behaviour with regard to gender. When predicting studying success in the set of predictors, the coping with emotions was proved as significant positive predictor. The above mentioned results have application in the area of improvement of life and health of young people, as well as wider population