Maladaptive Coping Mechanisms to Stress Among University Students From an Integrative Review

Abstract

Adjusting to new academic environments in universities remains a critical challenge for students. Stress derives from a stressor, an event or occurrence affecting one's life that requires a response. The manner in which students respond to a situation confrontationally or with an excessive emotional response, and avoidance-based, where individuals actively delay response to a situation or completely evade a stressful situation through isolation or other maladaptive behaviors. From literature review, maladaptive coping strategies include rumination, disengagement, expressive suppression, avoidant coping, denial and substance abuse, social withdrawal, and eating disorder behaviors. It is recommended that the universities should adopt cognitive behavior therapy techniques to assist the students who are involved in maladaptive coping strategies to stress.