Factors associated with stress impacting academic success among post-secondary students: A systematic review

Abstract

Objective: To synthesize peer-reviewed primary research exploring factors associated with perceived stress impacting post-secondary students’ academic success. Methods: A systematic review identified research conducted in North America, Europe, and Australia in the last ten years across 12 databases. Results: Of the 6,214 references screened, 14 English articles published between 2011 and 2018 were deemed relevant. Subsequent analysis characterized articles by study design, location, population, factors with a statistically significant relationship with both perceived stress and academic success, and future research directions. Findings reveal a complex relationship among overlapping factors associated with perceived stress on academic success at both the intrapersonal (eg, academic, demographic, psychological, attitudinal, and behavioral characteristics) and interpersonal levels (eg, social capital). Conclusions: Further research should measure the association of the identified factors to inform areas where resources could be targeted within post-secondary institutions to prevent stress from unduly impacting students’ educational outcomes.

Keywords:

• Academic success
• post-secondary students
• stress
• student wellness
• systematic review

Acknowledgments

The authors of this work would like to thank the corresponding authors from our systematic review’s included studies who responded to confirm their respective information was extracted correctly to help validate our findings.

Conflict of interest disclosure

The authors have no conflicts of interest to report. The authors confirm that the research presented in this article met the ethical guidelines, including adherence to the legal requirements, of the United Kingdom. As the research undertaken was systematic review, ethical approval was not required according to the research ethics committee of the University of York Department of Health Sciences.

Additional information

Funding

The lead author was supported by funding from a scholarship at their own institution.