Stress

We generally use the word 'stress' when we feel that everything seems to have become too
much, i.e., we are overloaded and wonder whether we really can cope with the pressure
placed upon us. Everyone feels stressed from time to time. But what is stress? What are the
potential causes of stress? What are the effects of stress? These are some of the burning
issues for which extensive research and investigations are being carried on.
MEASURING STRESS:

The word 'stress' is derived from the Latin word 'stringere', which means 'to draw out tight'.
The exact meaning can be articulated as a person feeling a noose of uneasiness and
disturbance around his neck. It then gradually tightens its hold till the person manages to free
himself through individual efforts by effectively dealing with it. Anything that poses a
challenge or a threat to our well-being is a stress. Some stresses are good for us as they get us
going with increased vigour. Without any stress, many say that their lives would be boring
and pointless. However, when the stress undermines both our mental and physical health, it is
detrimental. Stress is closely associated with poor physical health, disease progression and
psychological maladjustment. Thus, assessing and monitoring stress levels may help prevent
the adverse effects of stress on one's well-being.

Stress can be measured indirectly by assessing the psychological, physiological and

behavioural reactions given by the person to any stressor. A stressor is an agent or stimulus
that causes stress. Noise, unpleasant people, illness, unhealthy relationships, work overload,
etc., are some examples of stressors. One major way of categorising stressors is as follows-

1. Dispositional or internal variables or causes: These stressors include personality

attributes of a person such as one's ability to think, one's perception about his control over the
situation (locus of control), one's degree of respect for own self(self-esteem) one's control on
emotions, one's perception of own efficiency in the particular situation (self-efficacy),etc. and
cognitive appraisal of the person.

2. Situational or external variables or causes: These stressors include different physical

factors (noise, heat, lack of ventilation, unhygienic surroundings, crowding. lack of
illumination, etc.), social factors (poor economic condition, domestic violence unhealthy
relationship with parents, peers, etc.), cultural factors (caste, religion, dress, food habits, etc.),
academic factors (examination, lack of understanding of any learning concept, preparation for
exams, classroom atmosphere, inability in choosing appropriate career goals, etc.), and
significant life events (death of near ones, divorce, personal injury or accident, marriage,
retirement, pregnancy, health problem, etc.). Stress can be measured by identifying the
impact of a particular stressor or effect of stress on the personal life of an individual by
administering an appropriate checklist or questionnaire. The impact of a particular stressor
may be understood on the basis of the frequency of occurrence of any significant life event.
 GUIDELINES FOR PROJECT WORK ON STRESS:
The aim is to study the causes and effects of stress among school students by using two
checklists. To successfully complete the project work, the following guidelines are to be
followed-

1. Selection of group: Two separate groups of minimum 10 students (preferably from class
X or XI) in each group need to be selected.

2. Construction of checklist: Two simple checklists with a 5-point rating scale are to be
constructed. One of the checklists must pertain to the stressors. It must contain 10 statements-
5 on internal stressors (personality attributes and cognitive appraisal) and 5 on external
stressors. Another checklist must be constructed to study the effects of stress. It must contain
15 statements-5 on psychological effects, 5 on physical effects and 5 on behavioural effects.
The construction of checklist is to be done by the following steps-
• Step-I: Information on internal and external stressors from various sources like
magazines, books, newspapers, internet, social media, etc., for constructing checklist
1 is to be collected. For constructing checklist 2, information for the physical,
psychological and behavioural effects of stress is to be collected.
• Step-II: Statements are to be constructed from the collected information regarding the
stressors and their effects. The checklist is prepared by compiling the statements.
• Step-III: Each statement of the checklists is to be rated on a 5-point scale based on the
frequency of occurrence of the stressor or the effect of stress. The rating scale is
marked from A to E, where, A denotes 'Very Often', B denotes 'Often', C denotes
'Sometimes', D denotes 'Rarely' and E denotes 'Very Rarely'.
3.Administration and data collection: Constructed checklists are to be administered on the
group of students. The rating of each person of the groups to each statement are to be
collected. Total scores need to be computed on all the statements of the checklists for all
persons based on the scoring procedure.

4. Statistical analysis: The statistical analysis for the data collected is to be done by the
following steps-
• Step-I: All the ratings given by the students on each statement of the checklists are to
be added. Thus, a summated score corresponding to each statement is to be calculated.
• Step-II: Based on the summated score, the most common stressor and the most
common effect of stress need to be identified.
• Step-III: Finally, statements are to be arranged in order of highest to lowest in terms
of frequency of their occurrences.

5. Results and interpretation: After construction of the checklists, administration and

statistical analysis, the responses are to be used to draw inferences.
 A SAMPLE PROJECT WORK ON STRESS
1. General Problem: On Stress

2. Specific Problem: [i] To prepare two checklists on stress (stressor and effect of stress),
and [ii] To study the causes and effects of stress among school students.

3. Basic Concept: According to McGrath (1976), “stress is involved in an environmental

situation that is perceived as presenting a demand which threatens to exceed the person's
capabilities and resources for meeting that demand." Stress is actually the response or
reaction of one's mind and body to a real or imagined threat due to some event or change in
the environment. In 1936, Hans Selye used the term 'stress' in its present context and defined
it as the 'non-specific response of the body to any demand for change'. He thus, described it
as a biological process or experience with physiological responses.

4. Preliminaries: A group of randomly selected 10 students.

Age: 17-18 years
Condition: Fresh and cooperative
Sex: Female
Date of Study: DD-MM-YYYY
Education: Studying in class XI
Time of study: XX-XX AM/PM

5. Materials Required: Pen, pencil, paper, ruler, and information through magazines, books,
newspapers, internet or persons (in order to construct statements for checklists).
6. Plan of work:
Phase I: Step-I: Collection of information from various sources regarding
Construction of two stressors and effect of stress.
checklists
Step-II: Statement constructions for checklists.

Checklist 1: 10 statements on stressors-5 statements on internal

stressors and 5 statements on external stressors.

Checklist 2: 15 statements on effects of stress-5 statements on

physiological effects, 5 statements on psychological effects and 5
statements on behavioural effects.

Phase II: Administration of the checklists on the group of 10 students. Each

Administration of statement of the checklists is attached with a 5-point rating scale-
two checklists on the A to E, where, A denotes 'Very Often', B denotes 'Often', C
group of 10 students denotes 'Sometimes', D denotes 'Rarely' and E denotes 'Very
Rarely'. Each point of the 5-point scale is specified and represents
a corresponding score.

Phase III: Analysis Step-I: Summation of all scores against each of statements are
and interpretation done.
 Step-II: The most common stressor and effect of stress in the
students' life are obtained.

Step-III: Finally statements are to be arranged from highest to

lowest in terms of frequency of their occurrence.

7. Instructions to the Participants or Subjects (each group member): "Please sit

comfortably and pay attention to my instruction. I shall present you two checklists. one after
the other, containing 10 and 15 statements respectively. Please go through them carefully and
put a tick against the suitable option with which you agree. Ask me, if you have any
inconvenience."
10. Interpretation and Inference: From the above findings, the following interpretation
may be drawn separately for the two checklists.
Checklist-1:
[a] Internal Stressors domain- Statements from highest score to least score are 3, 5, 1, 4, 2.
Thus, the order of frequency of occurrence of stressors from highest to least is 3, 5, 1, 4, 2.
The top-two internal stressors are the feeling of being over-burdened and feeling of the
pressure and tension for achieving the goal.
[b] External Stressors domain- Statements from highest score to least score are 10, 9, 6, 7, 8.
Thus the order of frequency from highest to least is 10, 9, 6, 7, 8. The top-two external
stressors are quarrel with a friend and inability to relax before examination.

Checklist-2:
[a] Physical effects- Statements from highest score to least score are 1, 2, 3, 5, 4. Thus the
order of frequency from highest to least is 1, 2, 3, 5, 4. The top-two physiological effects are
headache and bouts of nausea due to stress.
[b] Psychological effects- Statements from highest score to least score are 7, 6, 8, 10, 9. Thus
the order of frequency from highest to least is 7, 6, 8, 10, 9. The top-two psychological
effects are feeling disturbed regarding physical appearance and anxiety for missing important
classes.
[c] Behavioural effects Statements from highest score to least score are 14, 13, 12, 11, 15.
Thus the order of frequency from highest to least is 14, 13, 12, 11, 15. The top-two
behavioural effects are crying due to the feeling of being neglected and feeling restless due to
waiting.

11. Conclusion: After conducting this study, it can be concluded that the top two internal
stressors experienced by students are 'feeling of being overburdened' and 'feeling of pressure
and tension for achieving the goal'. The top two external stressors are 'quarrel with a friend'
and 'inability to relax before examination'. The prominent physical effects of stress include
headaches and bouts of nausea. The psychological effects include- feeling disturbed
regarding physical appearance and anxiety for missing important classes. The behavioural
effects include-crying because of feeling neglected and feeling restless because of waiting for
something.