Perceived Stress and Perceived Lack of Control of Spanish Education-Degree University Students: Differences Dependent on Degree Year, Basis for Admission and Gender

Stress in higher education students is an issue of growing concern, as stress impacts quality of life and has been linked to drop-out from higher education. The aim was to investigate how stress was related to how far along students were in their degree program, using the Spanish Perceived Stress Scale (PSS10). We expected 1) first-year education students to experience more perceived lack of control than second-year students, 2) second-year students to experience more perceived stress than first-year students. Participants were students in three university education-degree programs (N = 399). The psychometric properties of the Perceived Stress (PS) and Perceived Lack of Control (PLC) subscales were investigated using Rasch models. One item was eliminated from each subscale. The estimated interval-level Rasch scores were utilized for testing hypotheses with general linear models. Results showed a somewhat more complex pattern than predicted as interaction effects between degree year and gender and between degree year and basis for admission were found.