Fear not! How Students Cope with the Fears and Anxieties of College Life

ABSTRACT

Students experience a wide range of fearful thoughts and emotions while in the classrooms that create stress significant enough to impact learning. The current study examined qualitative data extracted from undergraduate student responses focusing on ways in which they cope with academic fears. The responses were coded and categorized into three distinct coping themes from which the authors developed concomitant recommendations. These strategies include (a) educating students about coping through self-help approaches; (b) encouraging students to build support systems; and (c) promoting action-based strategies to help students cope with fears.

KEYWORDS:

• Academic emotions
• action strategies
• college students
• self-help strategies
• student coping skills
• student fears
• student success
• support systems