The impact of academic stress on students’ academic performance - The case study on students of Ueh University

Abstract

University students confront a variety of obstacles when they strive to meet their academic goals and academic stress is considered as one of their key sources of difficulty. Previous research showed that academic stress significantly harms students' well-being on a variety of different levels, but some research also indicated academic stress could improve academic performance through motivational instruments, causing contradicting results. This paper experimentally investigates the impact of each factor of academic stress on the performance of undergraduates pursuing Bachelor’s degree at UEH university (University of Economics Ho Chi Minh City), and whether self-control influences any of those effects. This study was conducted on 300 students of UEH university, including both men and women, ranging from first year to third year. Using a quantitative approach with the SPSS tool, this study found a positive relationship between “ Stress related to academic expectations and pressure to perform” with academic performance, while there is a negative relationship between “Stress related to workload and test difficulty and exam format” with academic performance. The “Stress related to students’ academic self perceptions” is found to have no significant impact on academic performance. With regard to the moderating effect of self-control, our study found that the effect of “ Stress related to academic expectations and pressure to perform” on academic performance is reinforced if students experience higher self - control. Moreover, self-control can also mediate the negative impact of stress related to workload and test difficulty and exam format on students’ academic performance. Our findings highlight the implications of the healthy stress factor and the importance of self-control as the key priority. The results are relevant to universities, parents or any related parties who are considering students’ academic stress and their academic performance.