PREDICTORS OF STRESS IN STUDENTS AT VNU UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES

Abstract

Stress is a mental health problem that affects the quality of life of people, including college students. Students often face different stress situations such as adapting to a new learning environment, selection of their courses or majors, living costs, studying, etc. The purpose of this study is to evaluate: the current stress symptoms; the associations between stress and personal and social factors of students at VNU University of Languages and International Studies, (ULIS); the effects of personal and social factors on stress symptoms. The scale (DASS-21) was used to detect symptoms and stress levels and an online survey with 1778 students was conducted. The results showed that the stress symptoms among students appeared quite often (Mean = 1.32), in which students of Faculty of Japanese Language and Culture, Korean Language and Culture, and Faculty of Language Education and Professional Development had symptoms of stress more often than students of the other faculties. The rate of severe stress among students was 25.1%. Regression analyses revealed that personal factors (heredity of mental health, majors, gender) and social factors (finance, study, family and friends) were predictors of students’ stress. Three personal factors and four social factors had an impact on students' severe stress symptoms, which accounted for 31% of the variation in severe stress symptoms among students, and each of these factors had different high effects. These findings allow us to better understand students’ vulnerability to stress and suggest that timely prevention and consultation programs should be developed.