Perceived Stress, Coping Strategy and General Health: a Study on Accounting Students in Malaysia

The current research aims to examine the relationships between perceived stress, coping capability and general health of university students. The Perceived Stress Scale (PSS; Cohen et al., 1988), Coping Strategy Indicator (CSI; Amirkhan, 1990)and the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ; Goldberg, 1981) were administered to 1785 respondents from tertiary education institutions, aged 18 to 26 years. Analyses of data were performed using Pearson correlation coefficient to identify relationships between perceived stress, coping strategy and general health.Results showed that there were positive relationships between perceived stress, General Health Questionnaire and coping strategy. Specifically students that perceived higher levels of stress would have higher scores of GHQ (lower level of general health state) and higher coping strategy. Lastly, results revealed that there was a negative relationship between coping strategy and GHQ. Specifically, students that have better coping strategy would have better general health state.