STRESS AMONG ACCOUNTING STUDENTS: A PRELIMINARY STUDY OF MALAYSIAN UNIVERSITIES

Stress is a common health problem among university students despite being a socially advantaged group. Therefore, the purpose of the paper is to explore the prevalence of stress among university students, specifically among the Bachelor of Accounting students from three universities in Malaysia. The sample consisted of 183 students and the data were obtained through the distribution of the questionnaire. The results suggest that students in private university experience stress higher than those in the public universities. The results also indicate that the possible sources of stress are related to the academic environments such as assessment format, academic load and subject difficulty. This study has added a new knowledge to the educational and psychological literature area particularly in developing economic setting especially in the Malaysian education environment. In addition to that, this study also has practical contribution by providing a cogent argument for universities to implement interventional strategies to reduce the stress level. Effort to mitigate student stress levels may decrease the likelihood of health and mental problem.