Gender differences in stress perception, stress causes, stress coping strategies among student parents

Abstract

Carrying out many roles and responsibilities that must be completed simultaneously by student parents may cause them to experience stress, which can affect their well-being. The objectives of this study are: (1) To understand how male and female student parents perceive stress, (2) To explore factors that cause stress between male and female student parents, (3) To find out the differences in stress coping strategies used by male and female student parents. This research explores the theoretical framework of stress and coping based on Lazarus and Folkman's Transactional Model of Stress and Coping (1984) to understand the interaction between individuals and their environment in responding to stress. Coping strategies were categorized into problem-focused coping and emotion-focused coping, highlighting the different approaches used by student parents to deal with stress. This research uses a qualitative approach, with semi-structured interviews and observations as data collection methods, to obtain an in-depth picture of the perception of stress, factors that cause stress, and stress coping strategies among male and female student parents at one of the universities in Depok. A purposive sampling technique was used to select participants, where participants had to meet the criteria to achieve the research objectives. 14 participants in total consisting of seven male student parents and seven female student parents were involved in this study. The findings of this research reveal: (1) various perceptions of stress by student parents, namely overthinking, unreadiness, burnout, unstable emotion, confusion, and incapability; (2) factors faced by student parents include family problems, especially those related to children's health, academic pressure, financial problems, and sexual needs; (3) the coping strategies used by student parents show that most participants both male and female student parents used Emotional Focus Coping (EFC) to deal with stress, in which male student parents tend to use avoidance-based EFC, such as engaging in activities such as sports, hobbies and entertainment, while female student parents are more likely to utilize self-reflection and positive reappraisal through writing and prayer. Based on the above findings, this study recommends that the university provide a counseling center (which applies therapeutic methods), peer support groups, and health services to help student parents deal with stress and other well-being difficulties.