The Impact of Academic Stress on the Mental Health and Well-Being of Higher Education’s Female Students

At the University Sargodha, a multicultural academic community, female students make efforts trying to achieve their academic goals without neglecting societal expectations. This poses a significant threat to their mental well-being which is quite alarming. At the university, the researchers examined the academic stress and mental health of 154 female students, initially gauging the level of anxiety and depression. The study incorporated SPSS and DASS-21 scales to measure academic stress and depression and anxiety. The study obtained a moderate but significant correlational value between stress and mental health. Using role strain theory, this study attempts to identify some at risk populations, such as ‘fresher’, students from rural areas, or those coming from poor socio economic backgrounds. The lack of discussion on the mental health impacts of stress in particular in the context of parenting creates additional pressures and makes matters worse. In Sargodha, academic stress is considerably detrimental to the psychological wellbeing of female students. It is therefore suggested that these young females are taught coping strategies such as time management, relaxation, stress alleviation techniques, support seeking, and other culturally appropriate ways of dealing with stress.