Stress, Anxiety and Depression, as Predictors of Academic Performance among Undergraduate University Students in North Western Nigeria

Abstract

This study investigated stress, anxiety and depression, as predictors of academic performance among undergraduate university students. Three (3) Objectives were formulated to guide this study, and three (3) hypotheses were tested. Survey design was used in carrying out the research. A total of 300 undergraduate students were selected in a randomized cluster sample from 3 universities in the North Western Nigeria. Stress Symptom Checklist (SSC) was used to measure stress, Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) measured depression and Spielberger Trait Anxiety Inventory (TAI) was used to measure anxiety while first semester examination result for general courses (GST) of the sampled students was used to measure academic performance. Findings revealed that significant negative relationship existed between and among all the independent variables (stress, anxiety, depression) and the dependent variable (academic performance) of university students. Stress and academic performance (p=0.002 and r=0.632) anxiety and academic performance (p = 0.000 and r = 0.957) and depression and academic performance (p = 0.001, r = 0.837). It was recommended that school counsellors and psychologists should be encouraged to address the issues of stress, anxiety and depression especially among hundred level students so as to enhance their adjustment and academic performance.

Keywords: Predictors, stress, depression, anxiety, academic performance