Sources of Stress and Coping Strategies Among College Students in Ladakh

The present study aimed to assess the sources of stress and coping strategies among college students in Ladakh. Further, to explore the gender difference among college students on the study variables. For this purpose, a sample of 160 (80 Males and 80 Females) college students in the age range of 18 to 22 year were selected through a random sampling technique. Students Stress Inventory by (Arip et al., 2016) and BRIEF COPE by (Carver, 1997) were used to collect data from the participants. An Independent t-test was computed to determine whether there is a significant mean difference between males and females among all the variables. The findings of the study revealed that majority of college students were experiencing a moderate level of stress and there is a significant difference in Stress with respect to Gender, indicating that female college students have more stress than male college students. The findings also revealed that there was no significant gender difference exist in the majority of the coping strategies. However, Gender differences have been observed in the subscale of Active coping, Self-distraction, and Humor. Males were found to utilize more Self-distraction, Humor, and Active Coping than females. By identifying the main sources of stress and highlighting its impact on students’ well-being and achievement, educators, parents, counselors, and policy makers can develop effective intervention techniques for reducing the stressors faced by college students.