ACADEMIC STRESS, COPING STRATEGIES AND ACADEMIC MOTIVATION AMONG UNIVERSITY STUDENTS IN FAISALABAD, PAKISTAN: A STRUCTURAL EQUATION MODELING APPROACH

Abstract

Academic stress and its effects on student motivation are key issues in higher education worldwide, but there is limited evidence on this topic, especially in South Asian settings in Pakistan. This research used the direct and indirect relationships as defined by the Transactional Model of Stress and Coping (Lazarus and Folkman, 1984) and the Self-Determination Theory (Deci and Ryan, 1985, 2000) to determine the relationship between academic stress, three coping styles (problem-focused, emotion-focused, and avoidant), and academic motivation among Pakistani students. Quantitative, cross-sectional survey design was adopted, and a stratified random sample of 500 undergraduate and postgraduate students was selected in Faisalabad: Government College University Faisalabad (GCUF), University of Agriculture Faisalabad (UAF), National Textile University (NTU), The University of Faisalabad (TUF), and Riphah University Faisalabad. Perceived Stress Scale (PSS-10, Cohen et al., 1983) was used to determine academic stress, Brief COPE Inventory (Carver, 1997) to measure coping and Academic Motivation Scale (AMS; Vallerand et al., 1992) to measure motivation. Pearson correlation, multiple linear regression and Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) with bootstrapped mediation were done. Findings indicated that academic stress had an insignificant direct influence on motivation (β = .007, p = .941). Only avoidant coping was significantly (β = .088, p = .050) and negatively predictive (all indirect effects p > .80). SEM mediation analyses indicated that none of the three coping strategies significantly mediated the stress–motivation relationship (all indirect effects p > .80). The total model only accounted 1.1 per cent of the variance in motivation (R 2 =.011) implying that institutional, social and contextual variables have a significant overriding effect on individual coping in motivational outcome determination. Those results call into question the existing theoretical presumption that student motivation is solely driven by stress management and highlight the importance of institutional-wide interventions, such as academic counseling, mentorship programs, and autonomy-supportive pedagogical practices to maintain motivation in high-stress, resource-limited institutions of higher learning.