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Anya Martin

Professor Helmers

English 1201

21 November 2019

Annotated Bibliography

My research essay will attempt to answer why Colleges should be doing more to help

their students deal with and decrease stress. I am interested in knowing how severe College stress

is and why. In addition, I want to know ways that Colleges can start helping. Why should

Colleges be doing more to help their students deal with and decrease stress? How should

Colleges and Universities aid their students with stress?

“Ashford University.” ​Effects of Stress on College Students & How to Combat It | Ashford

University​, 1 Oct. 2018,

https://www.ashford.edu/blog/student-lifestyle/the-effects-of-stress-on-college-students-

ways-to-overcome-it​.

“The Effects of Stress on College Students and Ways to Overcome it” explains how to

identify stress in College Students and how to cope with it, is written by Ashford University

Staff, appears on Ashford University’s Student Lifestyle website, and was posted in 2018.

This article explains the causes of stress for College students including specifics such as

challenging academic courses, balancing schedules, taking care of a family, and maintaining a

job. The source explains how stress is frequently felt amongst college students. Stress can

become shown in external ways. With signs such as low energy levels, headaches, stomachaches,
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nausea, insomnia, chest pains, frequent colds or other illnesses, and shaking or sweating hands.

The source urges readers to understand their own personal triggers in order to treat them

correctly and efficiently. Stress can cause depression, anxiety, problems with cognitive

functioning and changes in behavior. Maintaining a healthy diet with a balanced breakfast and

regular meals will help combat stress. Exercising on a regular basis can help make one feels

more relaxed and decrease stress. Ashford University allows flexibility and accessibility to class

to make balancing classes easier. By handling your stress throughout college you are more

prepared for the rest of your life.

The writer's purpose in writing this article was to provide tips and information to college

students to help them thrive and deal with stress throughout college. The audience is college

students, parents of college students or anyone who wants to learn about stress. The source was

written in a College context therefore it focused specifically on College student effects. It was

written in 2018 therefore the information and context is from recent years of studies.

The author is Ashford University Staff. The information is credible because of citations,

sources and studies that are provided. The source is credible because it is updated and published

by a professional scholarly University. There is no advertisements and the purpose to provide

scholarly information and reliable help about College stress.

This information will be useful in explaining why Colleges should do more to help their

students with stress because this source shows how much it can hold a student back from

performing well in not only schoolwork, but life. This will help form a strong position that

Colleges need to be doing more to help. In addition, the source will help provide examples of

how colleges should be doing more.

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Ava Ghazi Rasheed, and Asmaa Ghanim Hussein. “Depression, Anxiety, and Stress among

Medical Students of College of Medicine, Hawler Medical University, Erbil, Iraq.”

Zanco Journal of Medical Sciences,​ no. 2, 2019, p. 143. ​EBSCOhost,​

doi:10.15218/zjms.2019.019.

https://eds.b.ebscohost.com/eds/detail/detail?vid=1&sid=3da887b3-72f6-49ae-97ea-920b

8c19f473%40pdc-v-sessmgr01&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWRzLWxpdmU%3d#AN=edsdoj.70

10e74da24f48fd898dea4f69488884&db=edsdoj

“Depression, anxiety, and stress among medical students of College of Medicine, Hawler

Medical University, Erbil, Iraq” demonstrates a study done on medical students in Erbil, Iraq that

shows depression, stress, anxiety and stress levels and the different factors involved, written by

Ava Ghazi Rasheed and Asmaa Ghanim Hussein, done in 2018 and appeared in ​Zanco Journal

of

Medical Sciences​. A questionnaire named by Stress Scale-21 was collected from 288

students. The questionnaire is designed to measure the emotional states of depression, anxiety

and stress. The range of participants age was 17 to 26 years old. The different factors that were

tested and involved among the College students in the questionnaire were gender, marital status,

residence, religion, ethnicity, smoking, and socioeconomic state. The prevalence of stress among

the students was 45. 1%. High reports of psychological morbidity among medical students were

recorded. The main reasons being social, financial and academic demands that are in the nature

of college environments. The effects can be loss of interest, altered appetite and sleep, low self

worth and poor concentration. It is found that stress that is accumulated during education will
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have a negative impact on learning and cognitive functioning. It can lead to impared immune

System along with physical and mental disorders.

The writer's purpose is to provide information and statistical data among medical students

in a College in Erbil, Iraq. The audience for this source could be researchers, scholars or anyone

interested in learning about stress among college students. Written in 2018, this source is in

context to the lifestyle in Iraq. Depending on demographics around the world, stressors and stress

levels may vary.

The writers are Ava Ghazi Rasheed and Asmaa Ghanim Hussein. The authors and

information are credible due to the information that is provided by a scholarly research

conducted by the College. The information is recent, cited, purposeful for academic research and

contains no advertisements or bias.

This information will be adequate to explain how prevalent stress is among college

students. This information can be useful in conceiving colleges to do more. Because the causes

are put on my social, financial and academic demands in College environments, there must be

something fixed by the colleges. Because there are high rates of psychological morbidity, actions

need to be taken fast. Due to the impacts on learning, effects to the human body, and cognitive

functioning colleges must come up with solutions and aid to the students. The study shows that

stress among students was high in all the many factors that were tested.

HOLINKA, CASSANDRA. “Stress, Emotional Intelligence, and Life Satisfaction in College

Students.” ​College Student Journal​, vol. 49, no. 2, Summer 2015, pp. 300–311.
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EBSCOhost​,

search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=s3h&AN=103235394&site=eds-live.

“Stress, Emotional Intelligence, and Life Satisfaction In College Students” explains how

students are largely susceptible to stress in various domains, written by Cassandra Holinka,

appeared in ​College Student Journal. ​This source explains results, reasoning and discussion of a

study of College students. The 81 participants were measured by Cohen’s Perceived STress

Scale (PSS), the Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWLS), and the Emotional Quotient Inventory (

E-qi). S significant negative correlation between stress and life satisfaction among College

students was found. Looking at the statistics, there was a mean of 42.91 on the PSS scale with a

correlating 22.64 on the SWLS scale. Therefore, as College students experience higher levels of

stress, they experience lower levels of life satisfaction. The mean life satisfaction for the lower

stress groups (25.71) was higher than the mean life satisfaction for the higher stress groups

(19.06) on the E-qi scale. Therefore, the higher the emotional intelligence, the less negative

effects for stress. The source explains how stress has been linked to gastrointestinal problems,

heart attacks, arrhythmias and even sudden death. Chronic stress has been linked to fatigue,

inability to concentrate, irritability, chronic headaches, disordered eating, coronary disease,

depression, and heart disease. The most common personal stressors among college students were

developing a future career plan, finance, relationships, personal appearance, personal

achievement, goal setting, grades, competition, demands, meeting deadlines and problems with

classes and majors. This study indicates that in order to help college students, Colleges should

hold interventions that should be focused on decreasing stressors and increasing coping skills.
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Colleges could create transitioning programs for students into college, and aid them to handle

roles as independent young adults.

The purpose of the writer is to provide statistical information and study results for people

to examine. The purpose is to educate people on the reality of college stress and suggesting ways

to fix it. The audience could be scholars studying stress, researchers, and college institutes that

are looking to better understand stress. This study was done in context to Southern Connecticut

State University,

The writer is Cassandra Holinka. The credibility is shown in the cited sources, such as the

American Psychological Association and citing all previous studies and people. The study is

adequate and reliable. The source has no bias and is meant for academic research.

I will use this information to explain how severe stress among college students interferes

with life satisfaction and emotional intelligence. This will help me demonstrates that students are

suffering and need help. This study also presents ways that colleges can begin to help and aid

their students.

Sharp, Elizabeth, and David Barney. “Required and Non-Required College Physical Activity

Classes Effect on College Students’ Stress.” ​American Journal of Health Studies,​ vol. 31,

no. 2, Apr. 2016, pp. 74–81. ​EBSCOhost​,

search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=s3h&AN=118724256&site=eds-live

“Required and Non Required College Physical Activity Classes Effect on College

Students Stress” informs the readers that physical activity among college students can greatly aid

decrease stress, written by Elizabeth Sharp and David Barney, written in 2016, appeared in
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​ hysical activity has the potential to provide beneficial

American Journal of Health Sciences. P

coping skills to students with stress along with lowering stress levels. By many Colleges, it is not

required to enroll in a physical activity class. The source presents a study done by 1243 students

that are enrolled in a physical activity class between two Colleges. The students consented to fill

out a questionnaire that was made up by a team of scholars. According to the results, 96.4% of

the students look forward to their class. 92% said participated in an activity class lessons the

stress they experience on a daily basis. 94% said that their class helps them manage stress.

College is a stressful environment and physical activities provide an accessible, feasible and

positive method to help cope. In addition, College physical activities have the ability to teach

students to strengthen skills and behavior that will be beneficial for their adulthood.

The writer's purpose in this source is to show that physical activity classes are beneficial

to College students. The purpose is to educate people and demonstrate the positive effects. The

audience could be College students, researchers, and university administrations. This was written

in a recent scholarly context.

The writers are Elizabeth Sharp and David Barney. Elizabeth sharp contains a PH.d and

David Barney contains a Ed.d. The information has no bias and they study was put together by a

method known as content analysis by researchers to create descriptive statistics. The website is

purposeful for recent academic research.

This information will help suggest ways that Colleges can aid their students with stress.

This information will help make a strong position that greater attention must be paid to health

and physical activity by Colleges and Universities. This will help show that by strongly

suggesting or making it mandatory to enroll in a physical activity class, stress will lower stress
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among students on campus. In addition, help manage the stress presented to students in stressful

College environments.

Sonya Fultz. Personal Interview. November 23, 2019.

On November 23, 2019 I had a Personal Interview with Sonya Fultz with a main thesis

that there are many opportunities and ways to aid students with stress. I asked “How can

Colleges Reduce Stress for Students in Colleges?” I will provide a summary of her responses.

Stress for first year College students can be reduced with well planned orientations during the

first week of the College experience. During the orientation, students should have a clear

schedule with introductions to all College resources that are available to students during their

educational journey. A Freshman Experience course also reduces stress allowing for students to

navigate academic planning, advising, registering for courses, financial aid and budgeting, and

understanding other resources available on campus. Faculty play a key role in reducing student

stress when they construct coursework and syllabi to support student learning. Clear syllabi that

list assignment with grading criteria, due dates, and additional resources are critical to keeping

students organized and providing a road map for coursework success. Faculty should minimize

changes to syllabi as much as possible to eliminate confusion for students. Ambiguity in

deadlines and assignment expectations leads to an increase in stress for learners. Residence Life

staff should make readily available stress reduction activities throughout the semester and

encourage students to attend events to learn coping methods for addressing stress. College

students are often finding their “identity” during college and the college experience should

encourage students to expose themselves to a variety of new experiences.

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Professor Fultz’ purpose of this interview was to provide accurate and reliable

information. I was the audience. The context from this interview was from first hand experience

and knowledge from Professor Fultz.

The interviewee, Sonya Fultz, is a lead faculty member and Director of Academic

Partnerships at Union University. She has been a professor at Wilmington University and

Antioch University, as well as a program chair. The interviewee has had much recent first hand

experience and contained no bias when talking about the topic.

This interview and information will be extremely useful for my research paper. These

methods and procedures that were explained are great ways that colleges can help aid stress. This

interview provided beneficial approaches that Colleges can utilize to help students manage and

decrease stress. This will help me take a strong stance with strong ways to implement the

decrease of stress.

Western Governors University. “Stress in College Students for 2019: (How To Cope).” ​Western

Governors University​, Western Governors University, 28 May 2019,

https://www.wgu.edu/blog/stress-college-students-2019-how-to-cope1902.html​.

“Stress in College Students for 2019: (how to cope)” explains the different types of stress

and how to manage them, written by WGU staff, appeared on the WGU website, and was written

in February, 2019. Acute stress is the most common type of stress and the signs of acute stress

are stomach pain, heightened blood pressure and heartbeat, shortness of breath or chest pain,

headaches, back pain and jaw pain. Episodic stress is when people are always in crisis mode. The

signs include constant headaches or migraines, hypertension, and heart disease. Chronic stress
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occurs over a long period of time and can have serious effects on one's health. The four main

varieties of stress are time, anticipatory, situational and encounter. Time stress can occur in

College when constantly worrying about what you need to do for the day and how you are going

to do it with the amount of time you have. Anticipatory stress can occur in College when feeling

anxious about a future test, assignment, or presentation. Situational stress can occur when one

receives a poor grade, arguing with a friend, phone calls, etc. Encounter stress can occur with

intimidating professors and unfamiliar classmates. In order to manage stress in College one must

maintain health as a student, balance family, school, and work, making the right class schedule

and credit load, managing finances, plan your future, and making meaningful relationships.

The writer of this article is WGU staff. The audience for this piece is College students

who need help understanding and treating their stress. Written in 2019 by college staff makes the

piece centered around recent stress in college stress in students. The purpose is to educate

students and help.

The writer is WGU stuff. The authors use credible research such as research from The

National Institute of Mental Health, The American Institute of Stress, and The American

Psychological Association. This piece contains no bias and is written for a scholarly purpose.

This will help me articulate my position by providing critical facts and knowledge about

stress. This article presents why students need help because it greatly affects them. This can be

used in my research paper show the specific stressors in college. This article also shows a good

example of how Colleges can provide their students with help.

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Wolverton, Brad. “As Students Struggle With Stress and Depression, Colleges Act as

Counselors.” ​The New York Times​, 21 Feb. 2019,

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/21/education/learning/mental-health-counseling-on-ca

mpus.html​.

“As Students Struggle With Stress and Depression, Colleges Act as Counselors”

demonstrates innovative ways that colleges are aiding their students, written by Brad Wolverton

in Feb of 2019, appearing in the New York Times. This article starts with a story of a student

who was checked into a psychiatric ward. The article goes on with what colleges are doing to

help students like this. This is a crisis that has shocked our world, with pressures from social

media to academic expectations. The article explains that there is a feeling among College

students that you're either a “winner or loser.” There is a tremendous amount of pressure on

college students. Students want a college that will give them the help they deserve. Critics says

Colleges are not adequately providing help. Nationwide, students typically have to wait almost 7

days for an appointment with a College counselor. At other places, it can be up to two months.

Studies show that hiring more therapists will help keep students healthy and enrolled in their

classes. Some colleges have placed counselors and psychologists in specific schools. For

example, the school of engineering, density, pharmacy, etc. In addition, some universities have

implemented massage chairs, bean bags and nap pods.

The writer's purpose in this article is to educate and provide information to people about

mental health in College and new innovative ways to help students. The purpose is to give an

example of how severe Colleges struggle with mental health. This was written in a more personal

and story like context.

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The writer is Brad Wolverton. The article is credible because it sites researchers such as

the American College Health Association. The article has a clear purpose without any bias. The

article is recent with updated and modern information. It is reliable and credible.