<i>"That's all I do, is school”:</i> a mixed-methods evaluation of undergraduate physiology students’ perceptions of stress

Physiology-related majors often have high academic rigor which may increase undergraduate students’ perceptions of stress and negatively impact mental health and wellbeing.While previous mental wellness interventions have found equivocal results, to our knowledge, no mental wellness intervention has been informed by students’ on their perceptions of stress. Therefore, the purpose of this mixed-methods study was to explore perceived stress in undergraduate exercise physiology (EXPH) students to guide the development of future mental wellness interventions. We hypothesized that perceived stress would increase during the academic semester; however, qualitative methodology precludes developing an a priori hypothesis for semi-structured interviews. Methods: EXPH students enrolled in an Advanced Physiology of Exercise course were invited to complete the Perceived Academic Stress scale and Cohen’s Perceived Stress Scale at the start of the Fall 2023 semester (n=151 students) and after the first unit exam (n= 140 students), as well as participate in a semi-structured interview exploring stress and related factors. Results: The Perceived Stress scale scores increased (pre 15.6 ± 7.0 vs. post 18.8 ± 6.1, p&lt;0.0001) over time; however, the Perceived Academic Stress scale scores did not change (pre 52.3 ± 10.2 vs. post 52.2 ± 10.5, p=0.98). Ten students were interviewed and all reported medium to high levels of academic and “life” stress. Major sources of stress included program expectations, coursework load, social isolation, family pressures, financial stress, and life balance. Many students reported a compounding effect of academic and personal stress during the semester, but good coping skills and stress management strategies (e.g., exercising, time management, planning, and self-care). Conclusion: This study highlights the significant levels of both general and academic stress experienced by undergraduate physiology students, with program expectations and the integration of academic and personal stressors emerging as key contributors. These findings can be used to inform the development of mental wellness strategies to promote students’ overall well-being and academic performance. This abstract was presented at the American Physiology Summit 2025 and is only available in HTML format. There is no downloadable file or PDF version. The Physiology editorial board was not involved in the peer review process.