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. 2022 Jan 27:1-21.
doi: 10.1007/s11469-021-00710-z. Online ahead of print.

Perceived Social Support and Stress: a Study of 1st Year Students in Ireland

Lavinia McLean  1 , David Gaul  2 , Rebecca Penco  1
Affiliations

Perceived Social Support and Stress: a Study of 1st Year Students in Ireland

Lavinia McLean et al. Int J Ment Health Addict. .

Abstract

Social support is consistently associated with positive outcomes for students, in terms of wellbeing and academic achievement. For first year students, social support offers a way to deal with stressors associated with the challenge of transitioning to university. The current research was conducted with a range of first year students (n = 315) early in their first semester in university. Both male and female students reported moderate levels of social support and perceived stress, while those with higher levels of social support reported lower levels of stress. Gender differences were apparent in both the levels and sources of social support that students perceived as available to them. Female students reported higher levels of social support and stress than males, suggesting that university initiatives for enhancing social support and dealing with stress may require a gender-specific focus. The results are discussed in terms of recommendations for developing students' social supports during first year, in order to mitigate for the experience of stress and to enhance student experience of their educational journey.

Keywords: Social support; Stress; Students: First year; University; Wellbeing.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of InterestThe authors declare no competing interests.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Number of students in low, moderate and high categories for stress (PSS) and social support (MSPSS)
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Number of students divided by gender in low, moderate and high categories for A stress (PSS) and B social support (MSPSS)
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Mean Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support scores for significant other, family and friend subscales
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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