2009 Volume 5 Pages 24-30
It is important for university students to learn how to manage their stress, but many students are not interested in doing so. Therefore, they need support to become interested in stress management as a healthy lifestyle behavior. The Transtheoretical Model (TTM) of behavior change, which has been applied in the clarification of the acquisition of many health behaviors, will help to develop health promotion programs. The stage of change is one of the components of the TTM. In this study, I measured the stage of change for stress management in Japanese university students, and examined whether stages are associated with stress-related variables. In Study 1, a total of 228 university students participated in a questionnaire survey. The one-week test-retest (n = 99) reliability was sufficiently high. When asked to describe their stress management behaviors freely, exercising was the most common response. On the other hand, cognitive-focused coping was scarcely mentioned. Examining the relationships among stages and stress responses and self-efficacy, significant relationships with the stages of change were recognized in stress responses. In Study 2, a total of 186 university students answered a questionnaire. One-way analyses of variance showed the frequency of engaging stress management behaviors in the maintenance stage was significantly higher than those in precontemplation and contemplation stages. However, no differences were observed among stages and self-efficacy. Results suggest reliability, validity, and some characteristics of stages of change for stress management behavior of Japanese university students.
