Relationship between Psychological Distress, Coping Strategies and Adjustment to University Life among University Freshmen

• Published in: Pakistan Journal of Medical Research
• Main Authors: Syeda Razia Bukhari, Tabassum Ejaz
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Health Research Institute (HRI), National Institute of Health (NIH) 2020-09-01
• Subjects: University freshmen; coping; adjustment and psychological distress
• Online Access: https://pjmr.org.pk/index.php/pjmr/article/view/113

Background: Attending a university for the first time can be a stressful experience for many college or university freshmen. They are often confronted with a variety of new personal and interpersonal challenges and failing to meet these challenges and demands has become the most common reason for undergraduates withdrawing from university. Objective: This study was to investigate the relationship between psychological distress, coping strategies and adjustment to university life among university freshmen. Study type settings & duration: A cross sectional study, conducted among Bachelor of Science (BS) freshmen from various universities of Islamabad and Rawalpindi in 2016. Methodology: The sample of 300 B.S freshmen including both men and women were gathered through convenient sampling technique from various universities of Islamabad and Rawalpindi .Three (Adjustment scale, Depression, Anxiety and Stress scale & Brief Cope) scales were used to assess the variable of study. Descriptive statistic and Pearson Product Moment Correlation were used to analyze the data. Results: Findings showed that social adjustment, academic adjustment, institutional adjustment, personal adjustment and total adjustment were significantly negatively correlated with psychological distress and were positively correlated with problem focused coping and with overall coping. There was no relationship found between personal adjustment and depression. Conclusion: It is concluded that overall adjustment significantly negatively related to psychological distress (Depression, Anxiety & Stress) among university freshmen. On the other hand adjustment to university life significantly positively related to overall coping and problem focused coping strategies.