Stressors and Stress-Coping Mechanisms of Academic Scholars in HEIs: A Basis for Stress Management Plan Formulation

This study aims to describe the stress coping mechanism of the academic scholars from the College of Education (COEd) in one of the private higher education institutions in Cabanatuan City, Philippines. This is an action research that focuses on the assessment of the academic scholars’ stressors and their correlates. It involves systematic observations and data collection that enables the researchers to reflect, decide and develop a training plan for stress management. The findings show that monthly family income and economic-related stressors were highly correlated. This further explains that students with high family income are less likely to experience frequent stress. In contrary, students who belong to low-income families are more prone to experience frequent stress. In other words, students who belong to poor families are more vulnerable to stress. Likewise, monthly family income and physiological responses to stress had high interdependence, which means that students with higher socio-economic status are less likely to experience severe anxiety, while students belonging to low-income families tend to experience severe anxiety. The results of this quantitative analysis served as basis in designing or preparing the stress management plan for these students.