The impact of academic stress on the lifestyle of university students in Kuwait
Abstract Background Stress is considered a main health problem that leads to negative lifestyle habits. High academic stress is known to be one of the major factors that may contribute to a higher level of stress. Therefore, our aim was to measure the impact of academic stress on lifestyle factors,...
Saved in:
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
BMC
2025-07-01
|
| Series: | BMC Public Health |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-025-23569-4 |
| Tags: |
Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
|
| _version_ | 1849334202192887808 |
|---|---|
| author | Abdullah W. AlHamlan Danah A. AlDhafiri Norah A. AlHajri Abdulaziz H. AlHouli Shaikhah M. AlHubaidah Anwar M. AlJassar Nawaf N. AlMutairi Aisha S. AlRabiah Ahmad T. Al-Sultan Wafaa Qasem |
| author_facet | Abdullah W. AlHamlan Danah A. AlDhafiri Norah A. AlHajri Abdulaziz H. AlHouli Shaikhah M. AlHubaidah Anwar M. AlJassar Nawaf N. AlMutairi Aisha S. AlRabiah Ahmad T. Al-Sultan Wafaa Qasem |
| author_sort | Abdullah W. AlHamlan |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Background Stress is considered a main health problem that leads to negative lifestyle habits. High academic stress is known to be one of the major factors that may contribute to a higher level of stress. Therefore, our aim was to measure the impact of academic stress on lifestyle factors, such as physical activity, eating habits, and quality of sleep of university students living in Kuwait. Methods This cross-sectional study was conducted on students in different universities in Kuwait aged 18–25 years. An online questionnaire was sent to students on various platforms. This questionnaire involved questions about the sociodemographic data, academic stress, physical activity, eating habits, and quality of sleep. Scales like the Educational Stress Scale for Adolescents, International Physical Activity Questionnaire-Short Form, Compulsive Eating Scale, and Sleep Quality Questionnaire were used. Results A total of 875 students responded to the online survey. There was a significant association between an increase in educational stress score and compulsive eating score (p ≤ 0.001), and an inverse relation between the educational stress score and sleep quality (p ≤ 0.001). Additionally, sleep quality score decreased significantly with higher coffee intake (p ≤ 0.001) as well as with melatonin intake (p ≤ 0.001). Furthermore, we found a statistically significant decrease in the trend of the stress score as physical activity levels increased (p = 0.012). Also, our study found statistically significant differences in median stress scale scores between males and females (p ≤ 0.001), across the different university majors (p = 0.013), between different studying hours (p ≤ 0.001), and across different GPA grades (p ≤ 0.001). Conclusion In conclusion, academic stress has a negative effect on physical activity, eating habits, and quality of sleep of university students in Kuwait. Therefore, these results must be taken into consideration, and action must be taken to decrease academic stress. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-a93810c49d3b422daafa73f6bdfbef4e |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 1471-2458 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-07-01 |
| publisher | BMC |
| record_format | Article |
| series | BMC Public Health |
| spelling | doaj-art-a93810c49d3b422daafa73f6bdfbef4e2025-08-20T03:45:39ZengBMCBMC Public Health1471-24582025-07-0125111110.1186/s12889-025-23569-4The impact of academic stress on the lifestyle of university students in KuwaitAbdullah W. AlHamlan0Danah A. AlDhafiri1Norah A. AlHajri2Abdulaziz H. AlHouli3Shaikhah M. AlHubaidah4Anwar M. AlJassar5Nawaf N. AlMutairi6Aisha S. AlRabiah7Ahmad T. Al-Sultan8Wafaa Qasem9Department of Community Medicine and Behavioural Sciences, College of Medicine, Kuwait UniversityDepartment of Community Medicine and Behavioural Sciences, College of Medicine, Kuwait UniversityDepartment of Community Medicine and Behavioural Sciences, College of Medicine, Kuwait UniversityDepartment of Community Medicine and Behavioural Sciences, College of Medicine, Kuwait UniversityDepartment of Community Medicine and Behavioural Sciences, College of Medicine, Kuwait UniversityDepartment of Community Medicine and Behavioural Sciences, College of Medicine, Kuwait UniversityDepartment of Community Medicine and Behavioural Sciences, College of Medicine, Kuwait UniversityDepartment of Community Medicine and Behavioural Sciences, College of Medicine, Kuwait UniversityDepartment of Community Medicine and Behavioural Sciences, College of Medicine, Kuwait UniversityDepartment of Community Medicine and Behavioural Sciences, College of Medicine, Kuwait UniversityAbstract Background Stress is considered a main health problem that leads to negative lifestyle habits. High academic stress is known to be one of the major factors that may contribute to a higher level of stress. Therefore, our aim was to measure the impact of academic stress on lifestyle factors, such as physical activity, eating habits, and quality of sleep of university students living in Kuwait. Methods This cross-sectional study was conducted on students in different universities in Kuwait aged 18–25 years. An online questionnaire was sent to students on various platforms. This questionnaire involved questions about the sociodemographic data, academic stress, physical activity, eating habits, and quality of sleep. Scales like the Educational Stress Scale for Adolescents, International Physical Activity Questionnaire-Short Form, Compulsive Eating Scale, and Sleep Quality Questionnaire were used. Results A total of 875 students responded to the online survey. There was a significant association between an increase in educational stress score and compulsive eating score (p ≤ 0.001), and an inverse relation between the educational stress score and sleep quality (p ≤ 0.001). Additionally, sleep quality score decreased significantly with higher coffee intake (p ≤ 0.001) as well as with melatonin intake (p ≤ 0.001). Furthermore, we found a statistically significant decrease in the trend of the stress score as physical activity levels increased (p = 0.012). Also, our study found statistically significant differences in median stress scale scores between males and females (p ≤ 0.001), across the different university majors (p = 0.013), between different studying hours (p ≤ 0.001), and across different GPA grades (p ≤ 0.001). Conclusion In conclusion, academic stress has a negative effect on physical activity, eating habits, and quality of sleep of university students in Kuwait. Therefore, these results must be taken into consideration, and action must be taken to decrease academic stress.https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-025-23569-4Academic stressPhysical activityEating habitsSleep qualityUniversity students |
| spellingShingle | Abdullah W. AlHamlan Danah A. AlDhafiri Norah A. AlHajri Abdulaziz H. AlHouli Shaikhah M. AlHubaidah Anwar M. AlJassar Nawaf N. AlMutairi Aisha S. AlRabiah Ahmad T. Al-Sultan Wafaa Qasem The impact of academic stress on the lifestyle of university students in Kuwait BMC Public Health Academic stress Physical activity Eating habits Sleep quality University students |
| title | The impact of academic stress on the lifestyle of university students in Kuwait |
| title_full | The impact of academic stress on the lifestyle of university students in Kuwait |
| title_fullStr | The impact of academic stress on the lifestyle of university students in Kuwait |
| title_full_unstemmed | The impact of academic stress on the lifestyle of university students in Kuwait |
| title_short | The impact of academic stress on the lifestyle of university students in Kuwait |
| title_sort | impact of academic stress on the lifestyle of university students in kuwait |
| topic | Academic stress Physical activity Eating habits Sleep quality University students |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-025-23569-4 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT abdullahwalhamlan theimpactofacademicstressonthelifestyleofuniversitystudentsinkuwait AT danahaaldhafiri theimpactofacademicstressonthelifestyleofuniversitystudentsinkuwait AT norahaalhajri theimpactofacademicstressonthelifestyleofuniversitystudentsinkuwait AT abdulazizhalhouli theimpactofacademicstressonthelifestyleofuniversitystudentsinkuwait AT shaikhahmalhubaidah theimpactofacademicstressonthelifestyleofuniversitystudentsinkuwait AT anwarmaljassar theimpactofacademicstressonthelifestyleofuniversitystudentsinkuwait AT nawafnalmutairi theimpactofacademicstressonthelifestyleofuniversitystudentsinkuwait AT aishasalrabiah theimpactofacademicstressonthelifestyleofuniversitystudentsinkuwait AT ahmadtalsultan theimpactofacademicstressonthelifestyleofuniversitystudentsinkuwait AT wafaaqasem theimpactofacademicstressonthelifestyleofuniversitystudentsinkuwait AT abdullahwalhamlan impactofacademicstressonthelifestyleofuniversitystudentsinkuwait AT danahaaldhafiri impactofacademicstressonthelifestyleofuniversitystudentsinkuwait AT norahaalhajri impactofacademicstressonthelifestyleofuniversitystudentsinkuwait AT abdulazizhalhouli impactofacademicstressonthelifestyleofuniversitystudentsinkuwait AT shaikhahmalhubaidah impactofacademicstressonthelifestyleofuniversitystudentsinkuwait AT anwarmaljassar impactofacademicstressonthelifestyleofuniversitystudentsinkuwait AT nawafnalmutairi impactofacademicstressonthelifestyleofuniversitystudentsinkuwait AT aishasalrabiah impactofacademicstressonthelifestyleofuniversitystudentsinkuwait AT ahmadtalsultan impactofacademicstressonthelifestyleofuniversitystudentsinkuwait AT wafaaqasem impactofacademicstressonthelifestyleofuniversitystudentsinkuwait |