Background: Psychological stress is a common issue among faculty members due to increasing academic, administrative, and professional responsibilities. Prolonged stress negatively affect mental well-being, job satisfaction, and work performance. Therefore, assessing the level of psychological stress among faculty members is essential for identifying the need for stress-management strategies. This study aimed to evaluate the level of psychological stress among faculty members of colleges and universities. Methods: A cross-sectional survey was conducted among 101 faculty members from colleges and universities. Participants were recruited using a convenience sampling technique. Data were collected through structured online questionnaire consisting of demographic information and the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS). Descriptive statistics, including frequencies and percentages, were used for data analysis. Results: A total of 101 faculty members participated in the study. The majority of participants were above 30 years of age (46%), female (64%), worked 40-50 hours per week (41%), and possessed a master's degree (68%). Assessment of stress levels using the perceived stress scale revealed 91% of participants experienced moderate stress, 6% experienced low stress, and 3% experienced high stress. Most respondents reported experiencing stress-related feelings such as being upset unexpectedly, inability to control important things in life, nervousness, and difficulty coping "sometimes," indicating a moderate level of perceived psychological stress. Conclusions: The findings indicate that psychological stress is prevalent among faculty members of colleges and universities, with moderate stress being the most commonly reported level. These results highlight need for effective stress-management interventions and workplace wellness programs to promote psychological well-being among faculty members.
The COVID-19 pandemic brought about consequences extending beyond the health crisis itself, particularly affecting the mental health of the adult population in Latin America—a region where structural inequalities and healthcare deficiencies exacerbated the emotional impact of lockdowns, economic uncertainty, and the fear of infection. This study aimed to identify and analyze the psychological factors linked to stress levels experienced by adults in the region following the health emergency, utilizing a systematic literature review conducted in accordance with PRISMA guidelines. The process began with 543 records identified in databases such as PubMed, SciELO, and Elsevier, from which 30 publications covering the 2022–2026 period were selected. Findings revealed that anxiety, depression, emotional fatigue, and post-traumatic stress were the predominant manifestations, associated with social isolation, economic instability, academic and work-related overload, and low socioeconomic status. Resilience and family support served as protective factors against these manifestations. The study concludes that post-pandemic stress has a multifactorial origin and that its effects can persist over time, highlighting the need to strengthen public mental health policies for the adult population.
ABSTRACT Disasters caused by the eruption of Mount Semeru not only cause physical damage but also affect the mental condition of the victims, especially teenagers as one of the vulnerable groups who are going through psychosocial development in their lives. Teenagers after a disaster can experience anxiety, stress, depression, and even PTSD. This community service aims to improve stress management skills, rebuild a sense of safety, and enhance social connections within the community. This community service applied a psychosocial intervention method to improve knowledge, stress management skills, and peer support using growth focus resilience questionsare. From the analysis of measurement results from 19 respondents who underwent psychosocial interventions, there was a tendency for their psychological conditions to improve. This is evidenced by the average score increasing from 66.11 to 75.00 out of a maximum score of 80, indicating the potential of REM-JIWA in enhancing the adaptive ability and psychological resilience of post-disaster adolescents. Psychosocial interventions can reduce stress levels in teenagers and improve their knowledge of stress management and resilience in adolescents. Keywords: Semeru Eruption, Psychosocial Intervention, Semeru Eruption, Post- Disaste, Adolescents.
Final-year engineering students frequently face severe psychological stress driven by demanding capstone projects and rigorous accreditation standards. This research proposes a novel decision-support framework to objectively evaluate, categorize, and systematically manage academic stress among engineering undergraduates. By integrating automated non-parametric machine learning with a multi-criteria network decision model, the research bridges diagnostic psychological profiling and strategic institutional intervention. Data were gathered from six hundred eleven final-year students across four engineering departments using a validated psychometric questionnaire. The automated classification engine utilizes a nearest-neighbor algorithm based on spatial Euclidean proximity to categorize individual distress severity into depression, anxiety, and stress levels without relying on rigid parametric assumptions. Subsequently, a strategic situational assessment and a multi-perspective personal performance framework were established to translate abstract psychological findings into measurable indicators. Clinical experts and academic domain specialists evaluated these indicators using an analytical network process, incorporating complex interdependencies and feedback loops to compute steady-state priority weights. Empirical results revealed that over ninety percent of respondents experienced at least moderate psychological distress. Crucially, the mathematical prioritization demonstrated that the financial perspective holds the paramount priority weight, followed by internal cognitive resilience, continuous knowledge acquisition, and external social relationships. This proves that financial stability serves as a foundational prerequisite for academic recovery and intellectual execution. The primary contribution of this research lies in converting static psychometric evaluations into a dynamic, clinically validated decision-support tool. Higher education institutions and academic counselors can implement this prioritized framework to allocate institutional resources effectively, design targeted financial relief initiatives, and optimize student well-being alongside academic excellence.
The period of university studies is associated with numerous stressors that can negatively affect the psychological functioning of young adults. This study aimed to investigate the relationship between perceived stress levels, preferred coping strategies, and psychological resilience. The analysis focused on resilience as a potential moderator of the relationship between coping strategies and stress intensity. The study included 607 Polish students. A significant part of the group was medical students (61.72%). The study employed the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS-10), the Coping Inventory (Mini-COPE), the Resilience Scale (SPP-25), and used an author-developed questionnaire to collect sociodemographic information. The respondents exhibited moderate stress intensity (M = 22.54; SD = 7.04) and a moderately high level of general resilience (M = 59.39; SD = 15.37). Among coping strategies, acceptance (M = 1.94) and active coping (M = 1.85) were chosen most frequently, while turning to religion and helplessness were chosen least frequently. Analysis of personal resources showed the highest scores in openness to experience and sense of humor. Interaction effects rarely reached statistical significance. The study group showed a profile of students who were stressed but had functional coping resources. The moderation analysis results indicate the complex nature of the relationships among the variables studied—although psychological resilience is a key resource, its role as a moderator of the relationship between coping strategies and stress is not universal and emerges only in specific areas of functioning. The data obtained suggest that psychological interventions should focus on strengthening existing resources (such as active coping) and developing resilience, which may serve as a buffer against the negative effects of academic stress.
دوره تحصیلات دانشگاهی با عوامل استرسزای متعددی همراه است که میتوانند عملکرد روانشناختی بزرگسالان جوان را به طور منفی تحت تأثیر قرار دهند. هدف این پژوهش بررسی رابطه بین سطوح استرس ادراکشده، راهبردهای مقابلهای ترجیحی و تابآوری روانشناختی بود. تحلیلها بر تابآوری به عنوان یک تعدیلگر بالقوه در رابطه بین راهبردهای مقابلهای و شدت استرس متمرکز شد. این پژوهش شامل ۶۰۷ دانشجوی لهستانی بود که بخش قابل توجهی از گروه را دانشجویان پزشکی (۶۱٫۷۲٪) تشکیل میدادند. در این مطالعه از مقیاس استرس ادراکشده (PSS-10)، فهرست مقابله (Mini-COPE)، مقیاس تابآوری (SPP-25) و پرسشنامهای تدوینشده توسط نویسندگان برای جمعآوری اطلاعات جمعیتشناختی استفاده شد. پاسخدهندگان شدت متوسطی از استرس (M = 22.54؛ SD = 7.04) و سطح نسبتاً بالایی از تابآوری کلی (M = 59.39؛ SD = 15.37) را نشان دادند. در میان راهبردهای مقابلهای، پذیرش (M = 1.94) و مقابله فعال (M = 1.85) بیشترین فراوانی را داشتند، در حالی که گرایش به مذهب و درماندگی کمترین فراوانی را داشتند. تحلیل منابع فردی بالاترین نمرات را در گشودگی نسبت به تجربه و حس شوخطبعی نشان داد. اثرات تعاملی به ندرت به سطح معناداری آماری رسیدند. گروه مورد مطالعه، نمایهای از دانشجویان را نشان داد که دچار استرس بودند اما منابع مقابلهای کارآمدی داشتند. نتایج تحلیل تعدیلگری، ماهیت پیچیده روابط میان متغیرهای مورد بررسی را نشان میدهد—اگرچه تابآوری روانشناختی یک منبع کلیدی است، نقش آن به عنوان تعدیلگر رابطه بین راهبردهای مقابلهای و استرس همگانی نیست و تنها در حوزههای خاصی از عملکرد ظاهر میشود. دادههای بهدستآمده حاکی از آن است که مداخلات روانشناختی باید بر تقویت منابع موجود (مانند مقابله فعال) و توسعه تابآوری متمرکز شوند، که میتواند به عنوان یک سپر در برابر اثرات منفی استرس تحصیلی عمل کند.
In recent years, psychological strain among young people has increased worldwide due to numerous social crises. School and classroom performance requirements are primary sources of stress for students. Classroom stress emerges when the demands of a teaching situation surpass personal resources, such as self-efficacy beliefs (SEB). Scientific inquiry-based activities, including experiments or modeling, pose a significant challenge in science lessons because students have limited resources in this area, even by the end of lower secondary school. Consequently, an elevated stress level is anticipated in such situations. This exploratory study examined secondary school students’ heart rate variability (n = 86 valid data sets), an indicator of physiological stress, during inquiry-based and non-inquiry-based (communication) situations in science lessons. Moreover, a hierarchical cluster analysis was conducted to investigate whether stress levels differed as a function of individual dispositions that encompassed both stress levels and scientific SEBs. Overall, no significantly elevated stress level was observed during inquiry-based situations. Nevertheless, three types of students with different physiological stress responses were identified, suggesting that individual dispositions are pivotal in guiding personalized stress prevention in science lessons.
در سالهای اخیر، فشار روانی در میان جوانان در سراسر جهان به دلیل بحرانهای اجتماعی متعدد افزایش یافته است. الزامات عملکردی مدرسه و کلاس درس از منابع اصلی استرس برای دانشآموزان بهشمار میروند. استرس کلاسی زمانی بروز میکند که الزامات یک موقعیت آموزشی از منابع فردی، مانند باورهای خودکارآمدی (SEB)، فراتر رود. فعالیتهای علمی مبتنی بر پژوهش، از جمله آزمایش یا مدلسازی، در درس علوم چالشی قابل توجه محسوب میشوند، زیرا دانشآموزان حتی تا پایان دوره متوسطه اول نیز منابع محدودی در این زمینه دارند. بنابراین، انتظار میرود که در چنین موقعیتهایی سطح استرس افزایش یابد. این مطالعه اکتشافی، تغییرپذیری ضربان قلب دانشآموزان دوره متوسطه (n = 86 مجموعه داده معتبر) را به عنوان شاخصی از استرس فیزیولوژیک، در موقعیتهای مبتنی بر پژوهش و غیرمبتنی بر پژوهش (ارتباطی) در کلاسهای علوم مورد بررسی قرار داد. علاوه بر این، یک تحلیل خوشهای سلسلهمراتبی به منظور بررسی تفاوت سطوح استرس بر اساس ویژگیهای فردی که هم سطوح استرس و هم SEB علمی را در بر میگرفت، انجام شد. به طور کلی، در موقعیتهای مبتنی بر پژوهش، افزایش معناداری در سطح استرس مشاهده نشد. با این حال، سه نوع دانشآموز با پاسخهای متفاوت استرس فیزیولوژیک شناسایی شدند که نشان میدهد ویژگیهای فردی در هدایت پیشگیری شخصیسازیشده از استرس در کلاسهای علوم نقش محوری دارند.
ABSTRACT Numerous species investigate and alter their behaviour around the corpses of conspecifics. However, morbid behaviour creates multiple risks including exposure to disease, predation, and elevated stress levels. Although some causes for morbid behaviour have been postulated, it is not clear if there are adaptive benefits for this reasonably common behaviour that occurs across species. Growing support for information centre theory suggests that conspecifics around a corpse may benefit from shared information. We hypothesise that corpses are repositories for information and that congregations around them are information centres where crucial knowledge about the environment and predators can spread among individuals and groups. We call this the funeral hypothesis. The death of an individual may trigger a myriad of emotions (e.g., fear, anger, and sadness) and behaviours (e.g., congregating, not eating, and aggression) in conspecifics. Because these responses are conspicuous and costly, we interpret them as honest signals prompting other individuals, groups, and sometimes heterospecifics, to gather around the signallers and obtain information about the cause of death via visible and olfactory cues such as wounds or grievous injuries, absence or presence of predators, age of the deceased, and decomposition. This information is then transmitted across multiple levels of complex societies from the individual to different groups. The costs of interacting with corpses are balanced by consolation of bereaved or stressed individuals, enhancing social bonds, facilitating the renegotiation of social positions, and gaining knowledge of threats in the environment. We provide a review linking these concepts and suggest hypotheses generated by the framework.
چکیده: گونههای متعددی رفتارهای تحقیقی و تغییر رفتار در اطراف اجساد همنوعان خود نشان میدهند. با این حال، رفتارهای مرتبط با مرگآگاهی خطرات متعددی از جمله مواجهه با بیماری، شکار شدن و افزایش سطح استرس را به همراه دارد. اگرچه برخی دلایل برای این رفتارها مطرح شده است، اما مشخص نیست که آیا منافع سازشی برای این رفتار نسبتاً رایج که در گونههای مختلف مشاهده میشود، وجود دارد یا خیر. حمایت فزاینده از نظریه مرکز اطلاعات نشان میدهد که همنوعان اطراف یک جسد ممکن است از اطلاعات مشترک بهرهمند شوند. ما فرض میکنیم که اجساد مخازنی برای اطلاعات هستند و تجمعات اطراف آنها بهمنزله مراکز اطلاعاتی است که دانش حیاتی درباره محیط و شکارچیان میتواند میان افراد و گروهها منتشر شود. ما این را فرضیه مراسم تدفین مینامیم. مرگ یک فرد ممکن است طیفی از هیجانات (مانند ترس، خشم و اندوه) و رفتارها (مانند تجمع، نخوردن و پرخاشگری) را در همنوعان برانگیزد. از آنجا که این واکنشها آشکار و پرهزینه هستند، آنها را بهعنوان سیگنالهای صادقانهای تفسیر میکنیم که سایر افراد، گروهها و گاه دگرگونهها را به گرد آمدن پیرامون سیگنالدهندگان و کسب اطلاعات درباره علت مرگ از طریق نشانههای دیداری و بویایی مانند زخم یا جراحت شدید، حضور یا عدم حضور شکارچیان، سن متوفی و میزان تجزیه تحریک میکند. این اطلاعات سپس در سطوح مختلف جوامع پیچیده از فرد به گروههای مختلف منتقل میشود. هزینههای تعامل با اجساد با تسلی بازماندگان یا افراد مضطرب، تقویت پیوندهای اجتماعی، تسهیل بازنگری در موقعیتهای اجتماعی و کسب دانش درباره تهدیدهای محیطی جبران میشود. ما مروری بر پیوند این مفاهیم ارائه میدهیم و فرضیههایی را که از این چارچوب حاصل میشود، پیشنهاد میکنیم.
