Aug. 23--As June's high school seniors soon transform into August's college freshmen, homes are buzzing. New classes, new teachers, new classmates, and, in many cases, new living quarters have students and their families preparing for the new phase in their lives.
But are the students prepared for the stress?
An annual survey of college freshmen, published this year, showed that the emotional health of frosh across the country fell to a record low in 2010. According to the Cooperative Institutional Research Program Freshman Survey, just over half -- 51.9 percent -- of freshmen reported that their emotional health was "in the highest 10 percent" or "above average." That's a long drop from the 63.6 percent who reported high emotional levels to researchers at UCLA's Graduate School of Education and Information Studies, which has been conducting the survey since 1985.
Female students were far less likely to report strong emotional health (45.9 percent) compared with males, at 59.1 percent, UCLA said in a statement.
Many students, again, mostly females, reported feeling overwhelmed even before freshman year began, the study found. The preschool year stress is at least in part related to the combination of the poor economy and the rising cost of college, forcing more than 53 percent of students to borrow money to pay for their education, it said.
The researchers said the higher levels of stress should lead school officials to be on the lookout for increased poor judgment involving time management, alcohol consumption and academic motivation.
What can students do now?
Make a plan to find healthy ways to alleviate stress. Exercise, give yourself time for prayer or meditation, take a break from electronic media and keep healthy food in your diet. Maintain connections to loved ones or find a trusted person in whom you can confide. Colleges have health centers, often staffed with counselors. Use them.
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