Influence of Students’ Year of Study on Financial Stress, Anxiety, and Depression among Economics Education Undergraduate Students in South-east Federal Universities

Abstract

Financial challenges have been identified as a cause of stress, anxiety, and depression. Finance-induced stress, anxiety, and depression among undergraduate students could differ based on their years of study. This study, therefore, looked into the influence of years of study on financial stress, anxiety, and depression among Economics education undergraduate students. The study employed an ex post facto design. The study population consisted of 1,116 undergraduate students in Economics education from public universities in the South-East region. The sample size of 286 respondents was obtained using the Raosoft sample size calculator and selected using a multi-stage sampling technique. Three hypotheses guided the study. Data was collected using the Students’ Financial Stress Anxiety and Depression Scale (FSADS). The instrument was validated by three lecturers from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka. Cronbach’s alpha reliability estimates of the instruments were 0.92, 0.90, and 0.94 for stress, anxiety, and depression respectively, and 0.96 for the entire instrument. The hypotheses were tested using ANOVA at a significance level of 0.05. The findings showed that high financial stress, moderate financial anxiety, and moderate finance-induced stress were observed among the students. However, students’ years of study did not significantly influence financial stress, anxiety, and depression. It was recommended that university management while reviewing the school fees and other levies paid by students should consider all students irrespective of their year of study. This is because the levels of financial stress, anxiety, and depression were similar in all years of study.