Stress and related factors of undergraduate institute financial aid recipients at Faculty of Commerce and Accountancy, Chulalongkorn University

Abstract

Background: Financial problems were previously reported to be one of the major causes of stress in university students that affected their physical and mental health. The Faculty of Commerce and Accountancy, one of the schools of social sciences might have undergraduate students with high level of stress. The faculty offered financial aid to support the students. However, the studies of stress and its related factors of undergraduate institute financial aid recipients in Thailand are still limited.

Objectives: To study the stress and its related factor of undergraduate institute financial aid recipients at the Faculty of Commerce and Accountancy, Chulalongkorn University.

Methods: Data were collected from undergraduate students who have received the financial aid in the Faculty of Commerce and Accountancy. There were 127 self-administered questionnaires, including personal information questionnaire, Suangprung stress test (modified), social support questionnaire, and Rosenberg self-esteem scale. Data were analyzed using percentage, standard deviation, and Chi-Square statistics.

Result: The results of the study showed that the students who received the financial aid had a lower stress level of 54.3%, moderate level of 35.5% and high level of 10.2%. There were five factors significantly related to the stress of students received this financial aid: information support, self-esteem, study programs, classmate relationship problem and relationship problem in their family.

Conclusion: Most students who received the financial aid in this study had low to moderate level of stress; however, only 10.2% had high level of stress. The results of this study allows the related departments to be more concerned and monitor the students in order to prevent them from further problems.