Sources of stress and coping strategies employed by undergraduate students over a semester: motivations and implications for academic success

University students commonly experience high levels of stress, which negatively impact on academic performance, engagement, and well-being. Coping strategies can be employed to manage stress, but there have not been extensive examinations of student motivations for selecting coping strategies and how selection of strategies changes during a semester. This study explored sources of stress and coping strategies used by first-year undergraduate students across a semester. It examined reasons for strategy selection and the relationships between coping strategies, academic engagement, and performance. Participants were 203 consenting first-year undergraduate sport science students in Australia. Students responded to open-ended questions at the beginning and end of semester, and responses were subjected to thematic analysis. Frequencies of responses were correlated with measures of engagement and academic performance. The primary sources of stress were academic pressures, alongside social, financial, and personal challenges. At the beginning of semester, students predominantly intended to employ problem-focused coping strategies, such as time management and study techniques. However, by the semester's end, students more frequently reported using strategies such as exercise, balancing work and life, meditation, and yoga. Students' reported reasons for strategy use indicated that coping mechanisms served dual functions, both alleviating emotional distress and supporting study effectiveness, regardless of whether traditionally classified as problem- or emotion-focused. Employing more coping strategies positively correlated with higher academic performance. These findings suggest that encouraging a diverse range of adaptive coping strategies, while considering students' motivations for strategy selection, can support students' academic success and well-being.<b>NEW & NOTEWORTHY</b> This study is the first to examine students' motivations for choosing coping strategies across a semester, revealing that strategies traditionally labeled "problem-focused" or "emotion-focused" often serve dual purposes: enhancing both well-being and academic productivity. Coping strategy use shifted markedly over time, with exercise emerging as the most relied-upon approach. Notably, using a greater number of coping strategies, rather than any specific strategy, positively correlated with higher academic performance.