October 5, 2014 - 14:27
My first reaction to was that I found it interesting that the largest stress was the largest cause of late work, incomplete work, withdrawal from a class, etc. and also that the largest stressor was academics. In many ways, it's a self-feeding system. We can't do work because we're stressed and we're stressed about being able to do work or doing work well.
In terms of mental health, adolescence, and Kroger, Kroger cites Erikson as saying that, "identity only became a matter of concern in the United States late in the 19th century because a new generation of immigrants were attempting to define themselves in a land far removed from their ancestral homes," (p.2). This seems to mirror the way many students are attempting to define themselves once "removed from their [familial] homes" in college. Though not all students go away for college, the process of being in a space surrounded by others in a similar age group as you and existing in a kind of community very different and more holistically focused than the high school experience becomes formative for identity. This separation from family can help explain the loneliness students feel – 56.5 % of college aged students felt very lonely some time within the last 12 months. In addition to not having a clear familial connection, students are expected to both have a clear sense of direction and leave their options open. Kroger notes that "adolescents in collectivist societies are not faced with the choices and decisions that youths in contemporary western cultures must make in defining their own identities" (pg. 5). And the forced choices and decisions facing western college students can result in feelings of hopelessness (~45% of students within the last 12 months), overwhelm (~85% of students within the last 12 months), anxiety (~51% of students within the last 12 months), and anger (~36% of students within the last 12 months).
As a current college student, these results didn't come as a surprise.