TIME MANAGEMENT, SELF-EFFICA CY, ACADEMIC RESILIENCE AND ACADEMIC STRESS AMONG OBAFEMI AWOLOWO UNIVERSITY COUNSELLING STUDENTS

Abstract

Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU) students usually complain about academic stress, arising from curriculum contents overload, but counselling students have been exposed to various counselling theories, therapeutic approaches and interventions good enough to assist them navigate their academic challenges with relative ease, but the extent to which these therapies could buffer their academic stress needs to be investigated. The study examined the levels of academic stress, time management, self-efficacy, and academic resilience experienced by counselling students in OAU, and also investigated the individual and joint influence of time management, self-efficacy, and academic resilience on academic stress experienced by the students. The population comprised all undergraduates and postgraduate students studying Guidance and Counselling in OAU. The sample n=126 was selected through multi-stage sampling technique. Four standardised scales were used for data collection. Four research questions and two hypotheses guided the study. Data collected were analysed, using both descriptive and inferential statistics. Results revealed the level of academic stress encountered by the respondents as evenly distributed between average (34.1%) and high (34.1%), time management as low (38.9%), self-efficacy to be low (50%), and academic resilience as low (34.9%). Further results showed that time management (B=0.398; p=0.000 < 0.05) and self-efficacy (B= -0.245; p=0.008 < 0.05) individually have statistically significant relationship with academic stress, while academic resilience (B=0.178; p=0.113 > 0.05) has no statistically significant relationship with academic stress. Additional results showed that both time management, self-efficacy, and academic resilience collectively reported statistically significant relationship with academic stress (R Square= 0.491; Adjusted R=0.478; R=0.700; p= 0.000< 0.05). It is recommended that division of students affairs should periodically screen students for academic stress, and provide counselling intervention to enhance their overall wellbeing.