COUNSELING SERVICES, ACADEMIC STRESS, AND ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE OF UNDERGRADUATES IN STATE-OWNED UNIVERSITIES IN RIVERS STATE

Abstract

This study examined counseling services, academic stress and academic performance among undergraduates in state-owned universities in Rivers State. A correlational survey design was adopted. The analytical sample comprised 384 undergraduates drawn from Rivers State University and Ignatius Ajuru University of Education. Counseling services were assessed in terms of students’ access to and use of academic, personal-social and stress-management support; academic stress was measured with a validated Nigerian undergraduate stress framework; and academic performance was represented by students’ most recent cumulative grade point average. Pearson correlation and multiple regression were used for analysis. Counseling services were positively related to academic performance (r = .369, p < .001), whereas academic stress was negatively related to academic performance (r = -.437, p < .001). In the joint model, counseling services made a significant positive contribution (B = .263, p < .001) and academic stress made a significant negative contribution (B = -.311, p < .001). Together, the two predictors explained 25.0% of the variance in academic performance, R² = .250, F(2, 381) = 63.45, p < .001. The study concludes that academic performance is associated with students’ counseling-support environment and with the level of academic stress they experience. It recommended the provision of accessible, visible and academically integrated university counseling services alongside systematic stress-management support.