Perceived Academic Stress among University Undergraduates in Sri Lanka

The purpose of the study was to investigate the levels of Perceived Academic Stress (PAS) among undergraduate students in Sri Lanka. Systematic random sampling was used to select 497 undergraduate students from the universities to participate in the study. Data on PAS were collected with the aid of the Perceived Academic Stress Scale (PASS) which was adapted from Cohen (1994) and re-validated for the study. Data were collected through previously validated questionnaire and were analyzed with descriptive and inferential statistics. The PAS levels of the respondents were compared on the basis of gender and level of study. The hypotheses formulated for the study were tested at 0.05 level of significance. The findings revealed that undergraduate students reported higher academic stress levels and negatively related with the Academic Performance (AP). It is important that students should be counseling and trained to manage stress effectively otherwise it can adversely influence their AP.