Stress, coping strategies and academic achievement in teacher education students

ABSTRACT

University students experience stress, and how they cope with this stress affects their academic achievement. This study examined stress in teacher education students and had three objectives: to describe different degrees of stress and coping styles; to study the relationship between stress, coping strategies and academic achievement; and to examine whether increased age can moderate the effects of stress on academic achievement in 334 university-students. There were three main findings: many students experienced stress and used avoidance coping strategies; the students who were under less stress and engaged less in cognitive avoidance and more in problem-focused coping were also the students who made more academic achievement; and students under more stress performed worse, but with age stress affected performance less. In teacher education students, it is important to recognize and address the harmful effects of stress on well-being and academic achievement, to avoid long-term problems in professional and personal life.

KEYWORDS:

• Stress
• coping strategies
• academic achievement
• teacher education students

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This research was supported by Research in Social Sciences and Humanities Grants 2012, B200033268, University of Barcelona.

Notes on contributors

Jose Gustems-Carnicer

Jose Gustems-Carnicer is a Tenured University Lecturer at the University of Barcelona, Faculty of Education His research interests include music education, particularly in areas related to educational psychology.

Caterina Calderón

Caterina Calderón is a lecturer at of University of Barcelona, Department of Clinical Psychology and Psychobiology. Her main research topics centers on health and psychological well-being in pediatrics and adults. In the field of education, she focuses on coping strategies of students.

Diego Calderón-Garrido

Diego Calderón-Garrido is an assitant professor at the Universidad Internacional de la Rioja, Faculty of Education. His research interests include music education, particularly in areas related to educational psychology.