Funny Students Cope Better: Patterns of Humor Enactment and Coping Effectiveness

Increasingly, college students are employed in jobs outside of class—and contend with additional stressors as a result—when they attempt to balance work and academic demands. Enacting humorous communication is one productive way to handle such stress. In a college student, the replication of the process of using humor to cope with job stress (i.e., higher humor orientation, HO) was associated with higher ratings of effectiveness, greater self-perceived coping effectiveness, and subsequently with higher job satisfaction. Path analysis demonstrated that, as the transactional theory would predict, students' trait HO influences their job satisfaction through its effect on heightened coping efficacy. Results indicated that, across two very different sample populations, college students and fully employed adults are extremely similar in the process and benefits of using humor to cope.     

Conceptualizing Stress and Coping Strategies of Korean Social Work Students in the United States: A Concept Mapping Application

The number of Asian international students pursuing graduate degrees in social work in the U.S. has increased dramatically in recent years, especially among Koreans. Despite the growth and the need for culturally competent practices in higher education, no research has been devoted to the adjustment problems of this population. This study is the first of its kind in exploring stress and coping strategies of Korean international students in graduate social work education. Concept mapping revealed five major clusters of stressors: academic problems, financial difficulties, cultural barriers, psychological problems, and family concerns. Five major coping strategies emerged as well: psychological coping, physical coping, problem solving, social support, and entertainment. Social work schools and departments should demonstrate cultural competence with this population by providing support services to help these students cope successfully with their new environment.     

Stress in school-aged children and youth

This article reviews the literature on stress in students of grades 1–12. A model to understand stress as the inequality between perceived demands and perceived resources is presented. Student stressors are identified in the family and school environments. Coping with these stressors is conceptualized as problem-focused, emotion-focused, or appraisal-focused strategies that make use of personal, social, and cognitive resources. Physical, emotional, and behavioral symptoms of ineffectual coping efforts are then identified. After gender differences in stressors and coping are noted, instruments measuring stressors, coping strategies, and coping resources in children and youth are reviewed. Finally, representative intervention programs developed for school-aged youth are described and evidence of their efficacy is presented. The article concludes that there is a paucity of research on stress in children as compared to research on stress in adults.     

How teacher education students cope with practicum concerns

Abstract

Student teacher stress during practicum experiences has generated interest across teacher education programs. However, there is very little research on the sources of support students draw on to help them cope with practicum stresses. This study sought data directly from the students to represent the student perspective. Students ranked their five most important sources of support for coping, and they noted the strategies they used to cope with practicum stresses. Students consistently reported that seeking support from the teacher was their primary coping strategy. This finding suggests that an effective student‐supervising teacher relationship is critical for student practicum success. Differences emerged between the most and least stressed students in terms of their reported use of coping strategies. Implications of the findings for teacher education programs are addressed.     

Parents of disabled children burn-out too: counseling parents of disabled children on stress management

This paper explores the problems faced by parents of disabled children with respect to stress-related factors. Parents of disabled children experience tremendous stress in the responsibilities and problems that they face. Counselors who become involved with parents of disabled children need to be capable of assisting these parents in developing and implementing stress management programs. The counselor needs to teach the parents effective ways of reducing stress, in their everyday activities centered around the disabled child.This paper will discuss some of the circumstances that cause stress and suggest procedures for training parents in becoming aware of the stressors and learning to manage them. The paper will also discuss promoting self-awareness and developing coping skills for parents of the disabled children. Counselors are encouraged to use these and other stress management techniques in helping parents become more effective in managing the stressors and developing appropriate coping skills.     

A theory-based measure of coping strategies used by teachers: The problems in teaching scale

The Problems in Teaching Scale (PITS) was developed to assess the strategies used by teachers to cope with school stressors. The measure was developed based on the theory of Lazarus and Folkman [Lazarus, R. S., & Folkman, S. (1984). Stress, appraisal, and coping. New York: Springer] which emphasizes a coping process in which individuals appraise potential stressors and based on these appraisals develop adaptive and/or maladaptive coping strategies to deal with them. A study with 105 middle, junior high, and senior high school teachers was conducted to evaluate the psychometric properties of the PITS. Teachers indicated how they coped with three types of stressors: a serious student problem, a serious problem with an administrator or teacher; and typical problems with preparing for class. Factor analytical results suggested that three dimensions underlie the PITS and that these dimensions tend to generalize across the three types of stressors. In addition, consistent with the coping theory, the pattern of means for the PITS varied as a function of the type of stressor. These and other results generally supported the use of the PITS to assess the coping strategies of teachers.     

A qualitative study of the UK academic role: positive features,negative aspects and associated stressors in a mainly teaching-focused university

The literature demonstrates that stress in the working life of academics has increased over recent years. However, qualitative research on how academics cope with this is very scarce. Using online interviewing with thematic analysis, this paper examines how 31 academics in a post-92 predominantly teaching-focused UK university cope with the stressors of work. An innovation was to ask about both positive and negative experiences at work unlike most stress research which focuses only on negatives. Six themes emerged from the data; administrative loads, coping with stress at work, task preferences, the academic role, and positive and negative feelings around research/scholarship and thoughts around leaving academia. Increases in student numbers, being able to spend less time with students, heavy workloads, increasing administration, poor management, funding cuts and government initiatives threatening the future of education, obtaining research funding, and increasing insecurity of academic posts were all stressors. Positives identified included satisfaction gained from teaching students, support from colleagues, relative autonomy at work and the ability to manage their time more effectively were perceived as factors that can moderate some of the negative consequences of work stress. Overall, academics reported being happy at work because of the satisfaction gained from teaching and research.     

Serving Latino Farmworker Students in Michigan Summer Migrant Programs: Directors’ Perspectives

This survey and interview-based study examined the perspectives of 30 of the 38 migrant directors in Michigan, covering 26 summer migrant programs. Among the findings of this study were an unexpected inverse relationship between the size of programs and the frequency and number of external services and referrals they are able to provide for students; a widespread concern with interstate credit accrual and communication between state programs as well as differences in program directors’ perceptions of the ease of interstate communication; and a generally positive response to the suggestion of a new statewide evaluation protocol for migrant programs.     

Views from the field: program directors' perceptions of teacher education and the education of students who are deaf or hard of hearing

Arandom sample of directors of programs for the deaf in North America were surveyed to get their views about the skills that teacher education programs need to be teaching future teachers of students who are deaf or hard of hearing. The directors were queried about literacy practices, classroom management strategies, and communication strategies used in their programs, and were encouraged to comment freely on the questionnaire items presented to them. Program directors predicted a need for more itinerant and resource teachers. The survey also revealed that programs for the deaf are highly behaviorist (i.e., You do this and you'll get that) in the way they induce students to learn and in how they manage student behavior.     

School psychology trainers' identification of current stressors in the work lives of urban practitioners. A comparison study

The focus of this study is to investigate school psychology trainers' identification of current stressors in the work lives of practitioners. Surveys rating 40 stressors on a Likert‐type scale were completed by 161 school psychology graduate faculty, members of the School Psychology Educators Council of New York State. Survey results were compared to the job‐related stressors identified by New York City Psychologists using an almost identical questionnaire. While there appears to be general agreement between faculty trainers and practitioners on the identification and relative ranking of work‐related stress, the faculty trainers consider those events to be more stressful than do the practitioners. Faculty's recognition of the environmental forces that negatively impact upon the experience of school psychologists should provide impetus for the development of graduate programs that address stress prevention and/or coping strategies. © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Undergraduate Student Stress and Coping Strategies

This study of stress among 107 undergraduate students enrolled in various degree strands in a Victorian Institute of Technology reveals that major stressors are both academic and personal in nature. Students generally are more likely to use direct‐action strategies in their attempts to cope with college stress, while male students rely. more on palliative techniques compared with female students. The findings are consistent with related research in the USA and Israel, and suggest that the experience of stress for undergraduate students is not necessarily culturally specific. Further examination of the nature and extent of student stress on a longitudinal basis is recommended. Some areas that need attention are identified in the paper.     

Stress on campus: An interactional perspective

Faculty stress was investigated with the use of an interactional model of stress including roles, personal characteristics, coping strategies, and environmental characteristics. A random sample of 191 faculty members and 67 student-affairs staff members completed standardized measures of stress, strain, and coping resources and open-ended questions regarding sources of stress. Significant differences were found among faculty from different academic disciplines, between genders, and across semester time periods. Major stressors included time pressures, work overload, and interpersonal relationships. Body signals and poor interpersonal relationships were primary indicators of stress, and taking specific action and exercising were frequent coping behaviors. These findings have implications for administrative policy and faculty development programs.     

STRESS AND BURNOUT: CONCERNS FOR THE HOSPICE VOLUNTEER

Although the literature contains numerous references to stress and burnout within the professional staffs of hospice programs, little has been written about stress among hospice volunteers. This article explores this issue by examining what the literature has to say about significant stressors and appropriate strategies for coping with stress and burnout. Implications for work with and the training of hospice volunteers are suggested. A number of research questions also are suggested.     

大学生心理健康素质现状分析

复旦大学心理健康教育中心于2004年对本校大学生的心理状况进行了调查。结果显示：(1)我校学生心理健康状况总体良好,但仍有近20％的学生感到苦恼;(2)学生心理困扰主要集中于个人发展因素和现实生活因素两大方面;(3)学生对心理咨询的接受度仍有待提高;(4)学生应对生活中挑战与挫折时以积极应对方式为主;(5)多数学生能从周围的朋友、亲人或老师那里获得足够的心理支持;(6)学生人格因素与他们的心理健康有密切关系;(7)从心理支持、应对方式、人格因素三大方面可以很好地预测学生的心理健康状况。建议：(1)加强心理健康知识和心理保健的宣传与教育;(2)积极开设心理健康教育课程;(3)加强对学生辅导员的心理学知识培训;(4)加强对学生人格的教育;(5)营造良好校园人际心理氛围;(6)在校园文化建设中纳入心理教育主题;(7)将“心理咨询中心”更名为“心理健康教育中心”。     

Challenges to Brand Australia: international students and the problem with speaking

Although communication skills in English are important for both their career prospects and the success of their overall study experience, many international students find their spoken English a barrier to employment after graduation. In this paper, we draw on longitudinal interview data from international postgraduates to investigate the individual and social factors that impacted on the development of their speaking skills as they studied in Australia. Our findings suggest that, despite high levels of motivation to improve, they received little instruction in such skills on their English for Academic Purposes programs and had little access to them in the community. We argue that for compelling moral as well as economic reasons universities urgently need to address these issues through both instruction and social integration initiatives if they are to safeguard their lucrative but vulnerable overseas markets.     

Stress,coping strategies and academic achievement in teacher education students

University students experience stress, and how they cope with this stress affects their academic achievement. This study examined stress in teacher education students and had three objectives: to describe different degrees of stress and coping styles; to study the relationship between stress, coping strategies and academic achievement; and to examine whether increased age can moderate the effects of stress on academic achievement in 334 university-students. There were three main findings: many students experienced stress and used avoidance coping strategies; the students who were under less stress and engaged less in cognitive avoidance and more in problem-focused coping were also the students who made more academic achievement; and students under more stress performed worse, but with age stress affected performance less. In teacher education students, it is important to recognize and address the harmful effects of stress on well-being and academic achievement, to avoid long-term problems in professional and personal life.     

A Course in Humanity

ABSTRACT

Students experience a wide range of fearful thoughts and emotions while in the classrooms that create stress significant enough to impact learning. The current study examined qualitative data extracted from undergraduate student responses focusing on ways in which they cope with academic fears. The responses were coded and categorized into three distinct coping themes from which the authors developed concomitant recommendations. These strategies include (a) educating students about coping through self-help approaches; (b) encouraging students to build support systems; and (c) promoting action-based strategies to help students cope with fears.     

中国留学生在美国的师生互动压力：以美国某大学为例

本文从师生互动的维度解析了中国留学生在美国大学中的学业压力因素.四种因素构成了中国学生和美国教授互动的主要压力因素:语言功力不足、缺少对学业的自治和自主引领、言语表达的被动性、交流模式的非直接性.中国学生的压力是中关两种文化模式和教育模式碰撞合力作用的结果.这为反思中国教育的问题提供了有效切入点.本文从英语语言教育和转变人才培养观念两个方面为中国教育提出了相应的建议.并指出中国学生应进行"深层结构性社会文化转化",充分适应美国大学的学术文化,与美国教授形成良性互动,最终减缓跨文化所带来的压力.     

School stress, teachers' abusive behaviors, and children's coping strategies

OBJECTIVE: This paper presents the research study on school stress and the coping strategies children use in public schools in Poland. The main goals were to identify and investigate: (1) school stress components, its frequency and intensity, (2) its psychological and temperamental correlates and consequences, (3) students' coping strategies. METHOD: A field-correlative design was applied to test 271 students, between the ages of 13 and 14, using six questionnaires. School stressors and children's coping strategies were identified and analyzed on two separate questionnaires with open-ended questions. School stress scale investigated the frequency of stress components and the intensity of stress. Anxiety level was measured by standardized, Polish version of STAIC. Temperamental characteristics were tested by the standardized questionnaire STI-R/4. RESULTS: The most frequent stressors were teachers' abusive behaviors in the classroom teaching and assessment. Students' coping strategies, and their school results, were determined by the intensity of school stress, anxiety, and temperamental characteristic. CONCLUSIONS: This study demonstrated teachers' psychological abuse as an important component of children's school stress. An over-abundant by the abuse, stress and anxiety subjects regulate their optimal level of stimulation and activation by using survival-coping strategies, destructive for their school achievements, and well-being.     

Alleviating Anxiety and Altering Appraisals: Social-Emotional Learning in the College Classroom

Most college students experience stress and an increasing number also experience anxiety. This stress and anxiety has negative impacts on academic performance, as well as psychological well-being. In the K–12 setting, social-emotional learning (SEL) interventions have been consistently associated with improvements in outcomes related to stress and anxiety. However, little to no research has been conducted on effective ways for college instructors to help students in this area utilizing SEL. We developed a semester-long SEL program as an easy-to-implement and scientifically driven program to address this striking void. In statistics courses at two separate institutions (N?=?46), students completed weekly activities that fostered SEL-based skills and mindsets conducive to alleviating anxiety and appraising stressors in a productive manner. In our exploratory analyses, we empirically assessed the efficacy of our program utilizing a number of pre- and post- measures, including stress appraisal and various dimensions of anxiety. Significant improvements were noted in students’ ability to appraise stressors as positive challenges, rather than threats. Noteworthy improvements were also seen in students’ ability to recognize the resources available to help them cope with stressors, as well as decreases in math anxiety. These preliminary findings demonstrate that SEL programs implemented in a college setting have the potential to impact students’ psychological well-being and, in turn, their academics.