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General and specific stress mindsets: Links with college student health and academic performance.

Publication ,  Journal Article
Jenkins, A; Weeks, MS; Hard, BM
Published in: PloS one
January 2021

The goal of this cross-sectional, correlational study was to evaluate (a) whether beliefs about stress as enhancing versus debilitating (i.e., stress mindsets) vary across sources of stress that differ in duration (acute vs. chronic) and controllability, and (b) how general and source-specific stress mindsets relate to health and academic performance. College students (n = 498) self-reported their general and source-specific stress mindsets, perceived distress, health, coping, and GPA. Stress mindsets varied as a function of duration and controllability, and general stress mindsets were only weakly associated with source-specific mindsets. Consistent with previous research, general stress mindsets were associated with health, but some source-specific mindsets were more predictive of health than others-viewing stress from chronic controllable sources as debilitating was most predictive of poor mental and physical health. Measures of stress were also associated with health, and this association was moderated by stress mindsets, suggesting that viewing stress as enhancing can provide a psychological "buffer" against the negative effects of stress. Approach coping and perceived distress were examined as potential mediators of the links between stress mindset and health. Viewing stress as enhancing was related to greater use of approach coping and lower perceived distress, which in turn was related to better health. This research suggests that stress mindset interventions may benefit students' health, and that interventions targeting mindsets for chronic controllable sources of stress may be more effective than general stress mindset interventions.

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Published In

PloS one

DOI

EISSN

1932-6203

ISSN

1932-6203

Publication Date

January 2021

Volume

16

Issue

9

Start / End Page

e0256351

Related Subject Headings

  • Young Adult
  • United States
  • Students
  • Stress, Psychological
  • Self Report
  • Physical Fitness
  • Motivation
  • Middle Aged
  • Mental Health
  • Male
 

Citation

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Jenkins, A., Weeks, M. S., & Hard, B. M. (2021). General and specific stress mindsets: Links with college student health and academic performance. PloS One, 16(9), e0256351. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0256351
Jenkins, Anna, Molly S. Weeks, and Bridgette Martin Hard. “General and specific stress mindsets: Links with college student health and academic performance.PloS One 16, no. 9 (January 2021): e0256351. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0256351.
Jenkins A, Weeks MS, Hard BM. General and specific stress mindsets: Links with college student health and academic performance. PloS one. 2021 Jan;16(9):e0256351.
Jenkins, Anna, et al. “General and specific stress mindsets: Links with college student health and academic performance.PloS One, vol. 16, no. 9, Jan. 2021, p. e0256351. Epmc, doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0256351.
Jenkins A, Weeks MS, Hard BM. General and specific stress mindsets: Links with college student health and academic performance. PloS one. 2021 Jan;16(9):e0256351.

Published In

PloS one

DOI

EISSN

1932-6203

ISSN

1932-6203

Publication Date

January 2021

Volume

16

Issue

9

Start / End Page

e0256351

Related Subject Headings

  • Young Adult
  • United States
  • Students
  • Stress, Psychological
  • Self Report
  • Physical Fitness
  • Motivation
  • Middle Aged
  • Mental Health
  • Male