Exploring the Effect of Stress and Time Management Practices on the Academic Performance of First Year Students in The University of Cape Coast, Ghana

Abstract

Background: First year university students are particularly prone to stress. Equally challenging is time management. These have been postulated to impact on their academic performance. The majority of work in this field has been undertaken in developed countries. Very little is known about the effect that stress and time management have on the academic performance of students in universities in Ghana. This study explored the relationship between stress, time management and the academic performance of students at the University of Cape Coast. Methods: A cross-sectional study was done using a structured questionnaire which had three sections: the 10 item perceived stress scale developed by Cohen in 1994, the time management questionnaire developed by Britton and Tesser in 1991 and a socio-demographic section. They were completed by the students before the end of first semester examinations. The academic performance was measured using the certified GPA at the end of the first semester. The time management tool assessed long range planning (LRP) which encompasses setting priorities and planning for a whole quarter/semester, short range planning (SRP) which involves day to day or immediate weeks planning and time attitudes (TA) which measures ability of being in charge of one’s own time. Univariate analysis was done to determine the stress levels, time management practices and academic performance of the students. Simple linear regression, correlational analysis and stepwise multiple regression was done to explore the relationship between stress and academic performance, time management practices and academic performance and possible interactions between stress, time management practices and academic performance. Results: Out of the 416 (68.3%males) respondents, 349 studied Sociology and 67 studied Computer Science. Majority of the respondents (79.3%) were aged between 19 and 22 years. The prevalence of mild, moderate and severe stress were 12.6%, 76.7% and 10.7% respectively. Students showed good (56.7% of students), moderate (37.5%) and bad (5.8%) time management practices. The average GPA score was 2.48 (standard deviation was 0.59). Stress levels had a significant but weak linear negative correlation (Pearson’s coefficient=-0.136, at 0.05 significance level, p-value=0.01) with GPA whiles long range planning had a significant but weak linear positive correlation (Pearson’s coefficient=0.143, at 0.05 significance level, p-value<0.01) with GPA. The other time management scales SRP (p-value=0.57), TA (p-value=0.15) and GTM (p-value=0.12) had no significant relationship with GPA. The final module derived after a stepwise forward multiple linear regression showed long range planning to be the most predictive of GPA with a standardized coefficient of 0.1599 (p-value<0.01 at 0.05 significance level) followed by stress with 0.1196 (p-value=0.02 at 0.05 significance level) and then SRP with 0.1173 (p-value=0.03 at 0.05 significance level) The combination of the three factors explained 3.7% of the variability in GPA. Conclusion: High stress levels and poor long range planning could be impacting adversely on student academic performance at the University of Cape Coast. The university authorities need to incorporate stress avoidance mechanisms in campus activities. Students need to be supported to adopt long range time management techniques.