A new, brief measure of college students' academic stressors

J Am Coll Health. 2022 Nov 7:1-8. doi: 10.1080/07448481.2022.2135376. Online ahead of print.

Abstract

Objective: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the psychometric properties of a new measure of academic stressors (the ASM) in college students. Participants: The ASM was given to 677 undergraduate students at three universities along with measures of anxiety/depression, Big Five personality traits, and study skills. Methods: Tests of factorability and an exploratory factor analysis were completed. The internal and test-retest reliability of the measure was also evaluated. Results: The ASM is a concise, valid, and reliable tool for assessing college students' academic stressors. Conclusions: ASM scores predicted anxiety and depression symptoms. Therefore, the ASM can be used by colleges and university to assess students' levels of academic stressors to identify meaningful resources for support.

Keywords: Academic stressors; anxiety; college students; depression.