Enrolling in health education courses may help change student's beliefs
about stress

Date:
September 23, 2020
Source:
Binghamton University
Summary:
College students are under a lot of stress, even more so lately due
to the COVID-19 pandemic. New research finds that college health
courses could help students develop a more positive stress mindset.



FULL STORY ========================================================================== College students are under a lot of stress, even more so lately due to
the COVID-19 pandemic. Based on certain personality types, especially
neurotic personalities, college health courses could help students develop
a more positive stress mindset, according to research from faculty at Binghamton University, State University of New York.


==========================================================================
A research team including Binghamton University Health and Wellness
Studies Lecturer Jennifer Wegmann sought to evaluate the impact of health education on the change of stress mindset and also to explore the role of personality in the change of stress mindset when there is a specific focus
on improving individual health and well-being. Specifically, they sought
to assess the relationship between each personality dimension (i.e., neuroticism, extraversion, openness, agreeableness and conscientiousness)
and stress mindset change over time.

"The findings surrounding specific personality dimensions were
interesting," said Wegmann. "It appears that engaging in health education
is beneficial in changing perceptions of stress for some students but
not all -- based on personality. For example, significant changes were
elicited in students who scored high on the neuroticism scale but no significance was shown for students on the extroversion scale. Neurotic students tend to be worriers with high anxiety. The findings of this
research show how focusing on their health, in general, can change
these typically high-stressed students' beliefs about the stress
they experience." The researchers conducted an online survey with a
group of 423 students taking a college health education course. They
asked students to rate the extent to which they agreed with a series
of statements. Analyzing the data, the researchers found that students
with specific personality types, especially neurotic students, were more
likely to improve their stress mindset by engaging in health education.

Wegmann said the most interesting thing about these findings is that
change in stress mindset was elicited not through focusing on stress and changing mindsets specifically, but rather by students focusing on their overall health and wellness. Colleges may not have the faculty, space or funding to provide stress-specific courses, but this research shows there
is another avenue to help students navigate their stress, Wegmann said.

"This is important for several reasons," said Wegmann. "First, helping
students develop a more positive or enhancing stress mindset has been associated with improved mental health, increased performance and
productivity. Second, general health education courses are available
to large numbers of students. There typically are few, if any,
stress-specific courses offered on college campuses,' and if they are
offered, many are limited in student capacity." Wegmann said that the
next step is to work on discovering what approach will be helpful for
all students.

"According to our research, this approach was not helpful for everyone,"
said Wegmann. "While these findings are providing novel and interesting information, as a stress researcher who works to help students become
more productive and healthy, I want to know what other avenues will
reach our students."

========================================================================== Story Source: Materials provided by Binghamton_University. Note: Content
may be edited for style and length.


========================================================================== Journal Reference:
1. Jennifer Wegmann, Jason Marshall, Chou-Yu Tsai, Shelley
Dionne. Health
Education and Changing Stress Mindsets: The Moderating Role of
Personality. American Journal of Health Education, 2020; 51 (4):
244 DOI: 10.1080/19325037.2020.1767002 ==========================================================================

Link to news story: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/09/200923124728.htm

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