When was the last time you had a major transition in life that caused you to wake up every day feeling anxious? This is how many current college students feel each morning. A 2020 article in the American Journal of Health Behavior stated that anxiety interferes with executive function, such as concentrating, remembering, and performance in social, employment, and educational settings.
Hello, I’m Dr. Brooke Hildebrand Clubbs at Southeast Missouri State University. As a Global Journal of Multidisciplinary Studies article stated, every student aspires to pursue academic success to achieve respect, family pride, and social mobility. However, this generation of college students comes from a hyper-competitive culture that can negatively affect their outlook on their academic performance as well as their overall well-being. The combination of the anxiety and the additional pressure of societal standards on today’s college students can have a negative effect on their grades, their self-efficacy, their social interactions, and their use of technology according to a study in the Journal of Anxiety Disorders. Different types of anxiety are developed under certain circumstances, such as taking tests and using their smartphones.
Universities can help their students manage their anxiety by expanding information on counseling accessibility and promoting time-management smartphone apps. Student personnel should also hold themselves accountable for being more attuned to interactions they have with students on campus. They should also model healthy habits for overcoming everyday stressors.
Resources:
https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/anxiety-in-college-what-we-know-and-how-to-cope-2019052816729
https://www.northcentralcollege.edu/news/2020/12/04/anxiety-college-students
Byrd-Bredbenner, C., & Eck, K. M. (2020). Relationships among executive function, cognitive load, and weight-related behaviors in university students. American Journal of Health Behavior, 44(5), 691–703. https://doi.org/10.5993/AJHB.44.5.12
Kumari, A., & Jain, J. (2014). Examination stress and anxiety: A study of college students. Global Journal of Multidisciplinary Studies, 4(1), 31-40. https://d1wqtxts1xzle7.cloudfront.net/49520416/Publication_in_GJMS_Dec_2014-1-with-cover-page-v2.pdf
Content for this segment was created by Lindsay Peters as part of a project for EA615: Wellness in Higher Education, taught by Dr. Clubbs. She received a bachelors in Mass Communication: Public Relations with a minor in Health Promotion from Southeast Missouri State University in May 2020. She plans to graduate from SEMO with her masters in Higher Education Administration in May of 2022. Her career goal is to use the skills she has acquired from both degrees at Southeast to hold an administrative position in a school district, or apply to be an academic advisor for student-athletes at a university.
