Umeå universitets logga

In today's society, the term stress is a well-known phenomenon. It is something that everyone,regardless of age, encounters and is forced to deal with. Within the world of universities, thestress that occurs has increased among today's students. More than half of all students becomedepressed because of the pressures that arise around them. This study aims to investigate howstudents, specifically students who study to become teachers at Umea University, experiencestress. What are the factors that affect their level of stress and are there any special strategiesthat work to regulate the stress?

The approach that the study has taken is a qualitative study, in which four students haveparticipated in an interview about how they experience the stress, and which factors andstrategies have helped to reduce the discomfort. The results from the interviews have thenbeen summarized and analyzed with the help of previous research in the subject and twotheories. These two theories are based on a socio-psychological orientation and are calledKASAM and coping. These theories aim to see what affects an individual's stress level andhow the individual can manage the stress that occurs. The qualitative interview has beenbased on a thematic analysis that has helped highlight what the students' experiences have incommon and what possible solutions are available to reduce the academic stress.

The results showed that the symptoms felt by the students corresponded well with stresssymptoms. Depression, anxiety, migraines are just some of the symptoms shown.Furthermore, the results from the interviews showed that performance, ambiguity,expectation, anticipation, and motivation were all factors that affected the level of stress felt.And the strategies to avoid this stress were routines, activities, knowledge, and acceptancefrom the students.