The Correlation between Perceived Social Support and Stress Levels among First-Year University Students
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.37287/ijghr.v8i4.1735Keywords:
first-year students, mental health, perceived social support, stress levelAbstract
Students often experience various challenges related to their studies at university. These challenges can disrupt their health, particularly psychological issues such as stress. Excessive or prolonged psychological stress may interfere with learning success. This study aims to determine the relationship between perceived social support and stress levels among first-year students at the Muhammadiyah University of East Kalimantan (UMKT), Indonesia. This study uses a quantitative research design with a cross-sectional method. The population of this study was 3253 first-year students of Muhammadiyah University of East Kalimantan, then the sample used in this study was 401 respondents who were selected using stratified random sampling technique. The measuring instrument in this study used the MSPSS (Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support) questionnaire and the DASS-42 (Depression Anxiety Stress Scale) questionnaire with an ordinal scale distributed via Google Form. Prior to use, both questionnaires were tested for reliability, resulting in a Cronbach's Alpha value of 0.895 (>0.6) for the MSPSS questionnaire and 0.825 (>0.6) for the DASS questionnaire. Both questionnaires were assessed as valid questionnaires because they have been widely used at the international level. The data of this study were analyzed using frequency distribution analysis techniques and the Spearman Rank method. Based on the statistical analysis, perceived social support did not have a statistically significant relationship with stress levels among students (p = 0.536, > 0.05). Most of the respondents in this study were dominated by female (67.3%) rather than male students (32.7%), then the age of the respondents was mostly late teenagers (99%) with the age range between 17 to 25 years. Furthermore, respondents experienced high perceived social support (52.4%). Then, majority of respondents experienced normal stress levels (41.6%). Social support can be obtained from family, friends, and other special people. From a public health perspective, the importance of the relationship between social support and stress can be demonstrated using the principle of five levels of prevention to prevent the negative impacts caused by excessive stress.
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