Too Much Academic Stress: Implications on Interpersonal Relationships and Psychological Well-being among Final Year University of Ghana Students

Abstract

Academic stress is endemic in tertiary institutions. It has the propensity to affect well-being and interpersonal relationships of students. The study adopted the cross-sectional survey design to assess the influence of academic stress on interpersonal relationships and psychological well-being among final year students at the University of Ghana. Two hundred final year students participated in the study through the use of the convenient sampling technique. The Student Academic Stress Questionnaire, Ryff Psychological Well-Being Scale and the Interpersonal Solidarity Scale were used in data collection. The multivariate analysis of variance [MANOVA] was used in data analysis. The results indicated that students who perceived lower levels of academic stress had good interpersonal relationships and higher levels of psychological well-being than students who perceived higher levels of academic stress. There were no significant gender differences in levels of interpersonal relationships and psychological well-being. The findings imply that to improve the wellbeing and levels of interpersonal relationships among students, academic stress must be reduced to the barest minimum.