STRESS AND COPING MECHANISMS AMONG POSTGRADUATE STUDENTS OF UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN, NIGERIA

Abstract

Undertaking University education in Nigeria may be fraught with stress. The bulk of previous studies on stress among university students had focused on undergraduates, leaving stress and coping mechanisms among postgraduate students inadequately investigated. In this study the stressors and the coping mechanisms adopted by postgraduate students of the University of Ibadan, Nigeria were identified. A cross-sectional survey involving a 3-stage random sampling technique was adopted in selecting 340 postgraduate students from the 13 faculties in the institution. Focus group discussions (FGD) and a validated self-administered semi-structured questionnaire that included a 32-point stress scale were used to collect information about the stressors and the coping mechanisms adopted by the students. Descriptive statistics and Chi - square were used to analyze the data at p = 0.05. The mean age of respondents was 30.7 ± 6.7 years, and 50.6% were males. Seventy one percent of respondents stated that stress was a normal phenomenon, while stressors were classified by respondents as those challenges which could be physical, financial, psychological or emotional that hinders them from performing optimally. Forty percent complained of having to do many courses to satisfy university requirements. The situations that respondents considered stressful included having too many assignments (34.7%) and having difficult lecturers (16.5%). Medically, the respondent’s response to stress included moderate fatigue (29.1%), sleeplessness (5.3%) and increased heart rate (2.1%). The types of support received included financial assistance (12.6%) moral encouragement (38.5%), spiritual guidance (11.8%) and medical assistance (2.9%). Recreational activities used to relieve stress included sports and exercise (54.7%), sightseeing (10.6%), visiting night clubs (2.6%), reading (11.2%). The overall mean knowledge score on stress was 9.4 ± 4.3, respondents aged 41-50 years had the highest mean stress score (5.0 ± 3.3) while the lowest mean score of 4.8 ± 3.9 was found among the 21-30 years age group. Female respondents had higher (4.7 ± 3.7) mean score than male 4.6 ± 3.8. Respondents from the Clinical Sciences had the highest mean score of 7.7 ± 3.8 while those in the faculties of Public Health had the lowest mean score (2.8 and 3.0 respectively). No significant relationship was found between the gender of the respondents and stress. Recommendations made by the FGD participants on how postgraduate students can cope with stress included improvement in time management, avoiding procrastination, reduction of situations that bring about stress, seeking medical attention, and praying to God. Coping mechanisms in response to stress by postgraduate students in the University of Ibadan was poor. There is therefore a need to provide training on coping mechanisms and the University authority should improve the condition of the learning environment.