Relations among Negative Life Events, Getting Psychological Help, Rumination and Perceived Stress

Current study explores the perceived stress level of college students in relation to their gender, number of negative life events (NLE), and ruminative responses. Participants were 311 college students (184 females and 127 males) with a mean age of 21.47 (SD=2.09). The average of negative life events was 2.66 (SD=1.60). The effects of gender, number of NLE, use of psychological help and rumination were aimed to be tested by conducting a hierarchical regression analysis. However, since the sample size for the students that use psychological help was not sufficient, this variable was excluded from the analysis. The results showed that the model was significant and explaining 34% of the variances. In the first step, gender and number of NLE were significant predictors of stress (R^2 =.09, F_(2,308)=15.13, p .001). In the second step, rumination was added to the model and found to be a significant predictor of stress (R^2=.25, F_(1,307)=51.46, p .001). Results emphasize the personal factors influencing perceived stress such as gender and rumination. Thus, it is suggested for the mental health professionals working with college students to consider these variables while planning their counseling sessions.