Maphula, A.Takalani. F. J.Sibuyi, Xolile Marvia2025-10-152025-10-152025-09-05Sibuyi, X.M. 2025. Perceived stress and coping strategies among university students in South Africa: Development of guidelines for students to cope with stress. . .https://univendspace.univen.ac.za/handle/11602/2996PhD (Psychology)Department of PsychologyStress has become a global pandemic and has a high prevalence amongst students studying at tertiary institutions worldwide. University years are most stressful for young people as they struggle to cope with challenges encountered during this period. The study investigated perceived stress and coping strategies among students at the University of Mpumalanga (UMP) in South Africa. Additionally, it developed stress and coping guidelines for students registered at the institution of higher education. A mixed-method approach was used to explore the phenomena utilising an explanatory sequential design. The investigation was carried out in three phases, in the first phase quantitative data was collected using a cross-sectional survey. Random sampling was used (n=393). In the second phase qualitative data was collected and face-to face interviews were conducted using a semi-structured interview technique. Purposive sampling was used to select six staff members working within various student affairs support services and seven students who met the inclusion criteria for the study. The third phase of the research focused on the stress and coping guidelines for students at UMP. In quantitative research, the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS) and the Brief COPE Inventory (BCI) were adopted as tools to gather data. Descriptive statistics were used to give a broad overview of data while the Pearson correlation coefficient (r) was used to look at the linear relationship between specific variables. Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) was also used to look at differences between male and female group means. The study found that 73.5% of students experienced moderate stress levels. Additionally, 16.25% had high stress levels, while 10.25% reported low stress levels. Results showed that females experienced more stress as compared to males (p = 0.001); this was a significant result. There was no difference in coping skills across the male and female groups (p=0.75). The results indicated that 69.5% of students demonstrated adequate coping mechanisms, 16.5% exhibited poor coping mechanisms, and 14% had effective coping mechanisms. In Phase two: Thematic Analysis (TA) was used to analyse the qualitative data. Two major themes and four sub-themes that arose were: Social and lifestyle stress; Academic stress; Coping strategies used by the students; Appraisal based coping strategies; Problem focused coping strategies; Emotion focused coping strategies. The findings indicated that students experienced many stressors and used various coping strategies to deal with the stressors. Furthermore, twelve stress and coping guidelines for UMP students were developed from this research. The guidelines focused on stress screening, referral, access to support services, and student interventions. It is recommended that the student counselling centre strengthen its intervention strategies by focusing more on facilitating workshops and awareness campaigns that address stress and coping strategies. Additionally, the centre should provide training workshops for other student support services staff on screening and referring students to relevant departments. The study concludes that higher education institutions must improve to implement comprehensive programs for managing student stress.1 online resource (xiii, 195 leaves)enUniversity of VendaCoping SkillsUCTDCoping StrategiesPerceived StressStressorsStudentsUniversitySouth AfricaThesisSibuyi XM. Perceived stress and coping strategies among university students in South Africa: Development of guidelines for students to cope with stress. []. , 2025 [cited yyyy month dd]. Available from:Sibuyi, X. M. (2025). <i>Perceived stress and coping strategies among university students in South Africa: Development of guidelines for students to cope with stress</i>. (). . Retrieved fromSibuyi, Xolile Marvia. <i>"Perceived stress and coping strategies among university students in South Africa: Development of guidelines for students to cope with stress."</i> ., , 2025.TY - Thesis AU - Sibuyi, Xolile Marvia AB - Stress has become a global pandemic and has a high prevalence amongst students studying at tertiary institutions worldwide. University years are most stressful for young people as they struggle to cope with challenges encountered during this period. The study investigated perceived stress and coping strategies among students at the University of Mpumalanga (UMP) in South Africa. Additionally, it developed stress and coping guidelines for students registered at the institution of higher education. A mixed-method approach was used to explore the phenomena utilising an explanatory sequential design. The investigation was carried out in three phases, in the first phase quantitative data was collected using a cross-sectional survey. Random sampling was used (n=393). In the second phase qualitative data was collected and face-to face interviews were conducted using a semi-structured interview technique. Purposive sampling was used to select six staff members working within various student affairs support services and seven students who met the inclusion criteria for the study. The third phase of the research focused on the stress and coping guidelines for students at UMP. In quantitative research, the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS) and the Brief COPE Inventory (BCI) were adopted as tools to gather data. Descriptive statistics were used to give a broad overview of data while the Pearson correlation coefficient (r) was used to look at the linear relationship between specific variables. Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) was also used to look at differences between male and female group means. The study found that 73.5% of students experienced moderate stress levels. Additionally, 16.25% had high stress levels, while 10.25% reported low stress levels. Results showed that females experienced more stress as compared to males (p = 0.001); this was a significant result. There was no difference in coping skills across the male and female groups (p=0.75). The results indicated that 69.5% of students demonstrated adequate coping mechanisms, 16.5% exhibited poor coping mechanisms, and 14% had effective coping mechanisms. In Phase two: Thematic Analysis (TA) was used to analyse the qualitative data. Two major themes and four sub-themes that arose were: Social and lifestyle stress; Academic stress; Coping strategies used by the students; Appraisal based coping strategies; Problem focused coping strategies; Emotion focused coping strategies. The findings indicated that students experienced many stressors and used various coping strategies to deal with the stressors. Furthermore, twelve stress and coping guidelines for UMP students were developed from this research. The guidelines focused on stress screening, referral, access to support services, and student interventions. It is recommended that the student counselling centre strengthen its intervention strategies by focusing more on facilitating workshops and awareness campaigns that address stress and coping strategies. Additionally, the centre should provide training workshops for other student support services staff on screening and referring students to relevant departments. The study concludes that higher education institutions must improve to implement comprehensive programs for managing student stress. DA - 2025-09-05 DB - ResearchSpace DP - Univen KW - Coping Skills KW - Coping Strategies KW - Perceived Stress KW - Stressors KW - Students KW - University KW - South Africa LK - https://univendspace.univen.ac.za PY - 2025 T1 - Perceived stress and coping strategies among university students in South Africa: Development of guidelines for students to cope with stress TI - Perceived stress and coping strategies among university students in South Africa: Development of guidelines for students to cope with stress UR - ER -