Perceived Stress, Causes of Stress and Coping Strategies among UniKL RCMP Undergraduate Students during COVID-19 Pandemic

Abstract

Background: During the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, people face many physical and social distancing consequences, which significantly affects students. University students have experienced emotional stress as a result of fulfil the university’s increasing demands for assignments and tests, as well as and a variety of distractions during online classes. This study aims to identify perceived stress, causes of stress, and coping strategies among Universiti Kuala Lumpur Royal College of Medicine Perak (UniKL RCMP) students during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: A total of 325 respondents participated in this cross-sectional study which was conducted by distributing online questionnaires through Google form via various platforms. Descriptive analysis was used to assess respondents’ level of perceived stress and identify the causes of stress and coping strategies. Chi-square test was also used to identify the association between sociodemographic profiles with the level of perceived stress, causes of stress and respondents’ coping strategies. P-value <0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results: This study revealed that the majority of UniKL RCMP students experienced moderate levels of stress during the COVID-19 pandemic. Academic stressors (55.6%) and worry about the future (54.2%) were among the major stressors. Students used multiple coping strategies, including religion (84.6%) and positive reframing (84%) as the most common strategy used. Conclusion: Findings from this study have proved that students had a moderate stress level during the pandemic. This study will provide valuable insight to lecturers, parents, and counsellors to control these potential factors to overcome the high level of stress experienced by students.