ABSTRACT

This study was designed to find out Coping Mechanisms and Stress Management among students in the Faculty of Education, University of Benin. To guide this study, three (3) research questions was raised. The descriptive survey research design was adopted and a simple random sampling technique was used to select 160 respondents for this study. The instrument used for data collection was the researcher-designed questionnaire and was validated by the researcher’s project supervisor and two other experts in the field of this study. The reliability of the instrument was established using the test re-test method of estimating reliability. After computation, the reliability yielded a Coefficient of 0.724. The questionnaire was distributed directly to the respondents by the researcher. After the collection and collation of the instrument, the data obtained were subjected to analysis using descriptive statistics of frequency counts, percentage, mean and standard deviation. Results from the study showed among other things that students adopted different preferred coping mechanisms of stress and stress management. While the sources of stress observed by students include; inadequate night rest, financial difficulties, loss of a family member or loved one, engagement with other activities other than academics, pressure of passing examination, relationship problems, lack of constant electricity supply in the hostels, excess academic workload, conflicts as a result of dealing with someone or situations, and lack of constant water supply in the hostels. Consequent upon the findings of this study, it was recommended that; Since the students varied in their responses to preferred coping mechanisms of stress, and stress management strategies, there is need for the Faculty of Education to organize seminars and workshops on coping mechanism and stress management to bridge the existing gaps; more so, the university management should consider mitigating sources of stress that are borne by them to the students and lastly, students should learn to prioritize and maximize their schedules in order not to be overwhelmed by compounding activities.