Academic Study, College Examinations, and Stress: Issues in the Interpretation of Cardiovascular Reactivity Assessments With Student Participants1

Abstract

Stress arising from academic performance affects many college students. Moreover, students account for the majority of participants in cardiovascular reactivity research. The current research comprised three brief experiments investigating different aspects of student samples. In Experiment 1, students' (n = 30) academic fear of failure was found to be negatively correlated with systolic blood pressure reactivity. In Experiment 2, students' (n= 13) blood pressure was found to be significantly elevated 2 weeks before college examinations, compared with postexamination levels. Finally, in Experiment 3, students' (n = 19) examination performance was positively correlated with preexamination cardiovascular reactivity. These findings suggest specific college‐related factors that influence the cardiovascular stress response in students and, therefore, should aid the interpretation of much research conducted in cardiovascular health psychology.

Effects of perceived school well‐being and negative emotionality on students' attentional bias for academic stressors

“…This result supports the proposed relevance of the types of stimuli presented in the visual‐probe task. Research suggests that academic stressors are capable to induce an immediate physiological stress response in both children and young adults (Hughes, , ; Papousek et al ., ). When students are placed in front of an academic stressor, they respond with physiological arousal, which can be associated with a strong negative emotional response.…”

Test Anxiety and Cardiovascular Responses to Daily Academic Stressors

“…Academic responsibilities during college provide numerous challenges and help make stress an everyday occurrence for many students. College students report that examinations, papers and studying are sources of considerable stress (Hughes, , ; McDonald, ). For some students, test anxiety may magnify these stressful experiences.…”

“…Passing an examination or writing a paper can therefore be defined as an academic stress, assuming that the student feels that failing the examination or failing to write the paper will interfere with graduation from college, a self‐relevant goal. Research suggests that academic stressors are sufficient to induce a physiological stress response (Hughes, , ; Papousek et al, ). For example, Hughes () documented elevations in student blood pressure prior to an examination, whereas Papousek et al () observed elevations in student blood pressure both in anticipation of and during a required oral explanation of a difficult statistical concept.…”

NASPA Journal vol 43 no 2

“…Stress is a key issue facing college students as they grapple with a host of academic, personal, and social pressures (Bray & Born, 2004;Hughes, 2004). While it is normal for college students to endure some stress, "excessive" levels of stress can have negative physical health effects (Cohen, Tyrrell, & Smith, 1991;Kivimaki et al, 2002;Lillberg et al, 2003;Nahit et al, 2003;Takkouche, Regueria, & Gestal-Otero, 2001;Verthein & Kohler, 1997 (2002), over two-thirds of a sample of traditional-age college students experienced "excessive" levels of stress.…”