Self-Efficacy and Emotional Intelligence as Predictors of Academic Stress among Undergraduates in Kwara State

Kamoru Abidoye TIAMIYU

Abstract


Academic stress remains a significant psychological concern in higher education, particularly where increasing academic demands exceed students’ coping capacities. Internal psychological resources such as self-efficacy and emotional intelligence may play crucial roles in shaping how students perceive and respond to academic pressures. Despite growing global attention to these constructs, limited empirical evidence exists within specific Nigerian state contexts. This study examined self-efficacy and emotional intelligence as predictors of academic stress among undergraduates in Kwara State, Nigeria. A descriptive correlational research design was employed. The population comprised 97,320 undergraduates across three government-owned universities in Kwara State. Using a multistage sampling procedure and established sample size determination guidelines, 384 students were selected, with 380 valid responses analysed. Data were collected using a structured questionnaire measuring self-efficacy, emotional intelligence, and academic stress. Descriptive statistics, Pearson correlation, and multiple regression analyses were conducted at the 0.05 significance level. Findings revealed a high prevalence of academic stress, moderate levels of self-efficacy, and predominantly low emotional intelligence among respondents. Both self-efficacy and emotional intelligence were significantly associated with academic stress. Jointly, the two variables accounted for 81.9% of the variance in academic stress, with emotional intelligence emerging as the stronger predictor. The study concludes that academic stress among undergraduates in Kwara State is strongly influenced by internal psychological resources. By providing integrated, context-specific evidence, the research contributes to a deeper understanding of stress dynamics in Nigerian universities and offers a foundation for targeted psychological and counselling interventions.


Full Text:

PDF

References


Aam, M., Sara, S. S., & Adamu, T. B. (2017). Correlates of Workload and Academic Stress among Fresh Undergraduate Students at Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University, Bauchi, Nigeria. International Journal of Education and Evaluation, 3(9), 1-8.

Adesina, K. A., Afolalu, O. O., Adelekan, A. T. M., Adekomi, A. T., & Adesina, K. A. (2025). Perceived Effect of Academic Pressure on the Prevalence of Psychological Morbidities Among Health Sciences Students in Osun State University, Osogbo, Nigeria. International Journal of Developmental Research in Education, 5(1).

Aihie, O. N., & Ohanaka, B. I. (2019). Perceived academic stress among undergraduate students in a Nigerian University. Journal of Educational and Social Research, 9(2).

Akpan, U. U., Oni, T. I., Olayinka, O. S., Ibitoye, O. M., & Eke, S. (2024). Impact of Academic Progress on the Mental Health of Young People in Nigeria: A Case Study of Undergraduate Students in South-Western Nigeria. International Journal of Science and Healthcare Research, 9(4), 80-90.

Aluko, O. I. S. A. (2023). Work-related stress management and the performance of workers in public health facilities in Kwara State, Nigeria (Doctoral dissertation, Kwara State University (Nigeria)).

Awotidebe, A. W., Adamu, G. N., Ali, T. M., Mohammed, J., Lawal, I. U., & Lawan, A. (2022). Prevalence and factors associated with symptoms of psychological distress among students of allied health sciences in a Nigerian university. PJAHS, 6(1), 15-22.

Bandura, A. (2013). The role of self-efficacy in goal-based motivation. New developments in goal setting and task performance, 147-157.

Bandura, A. (2023). Cultivate self‐efficacy for personal and organisational effectiveness. Principles of Organisational Behaviour: The Handbook of Evidence‐Based Management 3rd Edition, 113-135.

Basri, S., Hawaldar, I. T., Nayak, R., & Rahiman, H. U. (2022). Do academic stress, burnout and problematic internet use affect perceived learning? Evidence from India during the COVID-19 pandemic. Sustainability, 14(3), 1409.

Cassidy, S. (2015). Resilience building in students: The role of academic self-efficacy. Frontiers in psychology, 6, 1781.

Cheng, X., & Lin, H. (2023). Mechanisms from academic stress to subjective well-being of Chinese adolescents: the roles of academic burnout and internet addiction. Psychology research and behaviour management, 4183-4196.

Chughtai, M. S., Syed, F., Naseer, S., & Chinchilla, N. (2024). Role of adaptive leadership in learning organisations to boost organisational innovations with change self-efficacy. Current Psychology, 43(33), 27262-27281.

Faghirpour, M., Amoopour, M., Gilaninia, S., & Alinejad Moghadam, M. (2011). The relationship between emotional intelligence and mental health of students. Journal of Basic and Applied Scientific Research, 1(12), 3046-3052.

Folkman, S., & Lazarus, R. S. (2013). Stress and coping theory applied to the investigation of mass industrial psychogenic illness. In Mass psychogenic illness (pp. 237-255). Routledge.

Fullerton, D. J., Zhang, L. M., & Kleitman, S. (2021). An integrative process model of resilience in an academic context: Resilience resources, coping strategies, and positive adaptation. Plos one, 16(2), e0246000.

Houghton, J. D., Wu, J., Godwin, J. L., Neck, C. P., & Manz, C. C. (2012). Effective stress management: A model of emotional intelligence, self-leadership, and student stress coping. Journal of Management Education, 36(2), 220-238.

Krejcie, R. V., & Morgan, D. W. (1970). Determining sample size for research activities. Educational and Psychological Measurement, 30(3), 607–610.

Kuo, B. C., Soucie, K. M., Huang, S., & Laith, R. (2018). The mediating role of cultural coping behaviours on the relationships between academic stress and positive psychosocial well‐being outcomes. International Journal of Psychology, 53, 27-36.

MacCann, C., Jiang, Y., Brown, L. E., Double, K. S., Bucich, M., & Minbashian, A. (2020). Emotional intelligence predicts academic performance: A meta-analysis. Psychological bulletin, 146(2), 150.

Morales-Rodríguez, F. M., & Pérez-Mármol, J. M. (2019). The role of anxiety, coping strategies, and emotional intelligence on general perceived self-efficacy in university students. Frontiers in psychology, 10, 1689.

Nawawi, E. (2025). Self-efficacy as a protective factor against academic stress and anxiety: Evidence from a systematic literature review. Advances In Education Journal, 2(1), 388-397.

Nunnally, J., & Bernstein, I. (1994). Psychometric Theory, 3rd Edition (MacGraw-Hill, New York).

Olape, O. R., Lasiele, Y. A., Chaika, E. A., & Abidoye, K. (2017). Stress level and academic performance of university students in Kwara State, Nigeria. Makerere Journal of Higher Education, 9(1), 103-112.

Thomas, C., & Zolkoski, S. (2020, June). Preventing stress among undergraduate learners: The importance of emotional intelligence, resilience, and emotion regulation. In Frontiers in Education (Vol. 5, p. 94). Frontiers Media SA.

Travis, J., Kaszycki, A., Geden, M., & Bunde, J. (2020). Some stress is good stress: The challenge-hindrance framework, academic self-efficacy, and academic outcomes. Journal of Educational Psychology, 112(8), 1632.




DOI: https://doi.org/10.30596/jppp.v7i1.30939

Refbacks

  • There are currently no refbacks.


Jurnal Penelitian, Pendidikan dan Pengajaran [JPPP]

Universitas Muhammadiyah Sumatera Utara
Kampus Utama
Jl. Kapten Muchtar Basri No.3, Glugur Darat II,Medan
Sumatera Utara-20238
E-mail: jppp@umsu.ac.id

Creative Commons License
Creation is distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License