Keywords

1 Introduction

Under the influence of higher education and traditional culture, students in Taiwan bear a heavy pressure of learning. According to the Health League Foundation [1] survey, 47.8% of students had an average of more than four days a week to take the test, 50.4% felt fatigued and 49.6% slept less than seven hours at night. As they get older, students feel more helpless and confused about their learning. When students encounter their limitations to solve the troubles or pressures, they often feel shy, helpless, and this even affects physical or psychological growth. Due to students’ limited self-awareness, stress response skills and problem-solving skills are not yet mature, so when stress is formed, inappropriate response patterns may develop. The stress can be due to too much homework, poor academic performance, preparation for exams, lack of interest in a profession or discipline, and academic-related punishments.

How can we help students find the right way to face and relieve this huge stress? Social support may play an important role. It will be very important for students to get the support of parents, teachers, and classmates. This study explores the relationship between academic stress and physical and mental health, and further understands the impact of parents, teachers and classmates’ support on them (see Fig. 1).

Fig. 1.
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Research framework.

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2 Literature Review

2.1 Academic Stress

Stress is the body’s reaction to any change that requires an adjustment or response. The body reacts to these changes with physical, mental, and emotional responses. Stress is a normal part of life [2]. When human beings bear psychological and physical stimuli, they will produce a state of tension, anxiety, and stress when they exceed a certain limit [3]. Furthermore, Most of the academic stress is due to students’ perceptions of students’ academic achievement. Stressors related to test anxiety are such as worrying about taking tests, test preparation, receiving poor grades, failing an exam, and failing marks at school [4].

Therefore, any stress caused by learning-related factors can be called academic stress. Too high learning pressure will affect students’ physiology, psychology and behavior, resulting in tension, anxiety, anxiety and other negative effects of physical and mental health. The academic stress defined in this study are exams, learning difficulties, and homework loading.

2.2 Physical and Mental Health

The World Health Organization defines health as a state of total physical, psychological, and social well-being, so health includes a personal physical, psychological and social dimension [5]. According to studies, many physical and mental illnesses are associated with stress [6]. The state of physical and psychological fitness of the individual is the state of health, and the body and mind are inseparable from each other.

2.3 Social Support

Social support is the assistance an individual can receive from his or her network or social support [7]. Increased social support can reduce mental stress, improve personal physical and mental health, and reduce the negative impact of stress on individuals. Cooper, Dewe, and O’Driscoll [8] point out that when an individual is faced with a stressor, the absence of social support will cause individuals to have a variety of negative reactions; in contrast, if an individual can obtain social support, the negative effects of stress will be greatly reduced.

Different sources of social support have different effects on individuals, and individuals need different types of support because of their situations [9]. Students’ social networks often interact with parents, teachers, and classmates, so social support related to students in three categories: parental support, teachers’ support, and Classmates’ support.

2.4 Effects of Academic Stress on Physical and Mental Health

In empirical studies on the correlation between academic stress and physical and mental health, some scholars used physical and mental health as a model and found that academic stress was negatively correlated with physical and mental health [10]. That is, the greater the stress of individual learning, the more physical or psychological symptoms. In other words, the pressure of schoolwork has a direct impact on the learning process of students, in the school performance of continuous failure, frustration will make students feel self-esteem damage, despair, deny self-worth and feel the pressure, further affect students’ physical and mental health, that is, the greater the pressure of learning, the worse physical and mental health.

Therefore, this study on the relationship between students’ learning pressure and physical and mental health, put forward the following assumptions:

  • H1: Academic stress had a negative effect on mental and physical health.

    • H1a: Academic stress had a negative effect on mental health.

    • H1b: Academic stress had a negative effect on physical health.

2.5 Effects of Social Support on Physical and Mental Health

Cohen and colleagues [11] refer to social support as “any process through which social relationships might promote health and well-being”. In many studies supported by society, a positive correlation between it and physical and mental health has been found [12, 13].

This study suggests that when vocational students experience high academic stress, it may reduce the negative impact of academic stress if they receive timely social support from parents, teachers or peers. Therefore, this study puts forward the following hypotheses for the relationship between social support and physical and mental health of vocational students:

  • H2: Parental support had positive influences on mental and physical health.

  • H3: Teachers’ support had positive influences on mental and physical health.

  • H4: Classmates’ support had positive influences on mental and physical health.

2.6 The Moderating Role of Social Support

Parental and teachers’ support can reduce the negative impact of academic stress on physical and mental health. When parents and teachers find that students are stressed due to learning, if they can provide emotional and learning assistance in real-time, we can reduce the physical and psychological wear and tear of students, and also enable students to reduce the physical and mental discomfort caused by stress, and in the daily environment, through the regulation of support, can also buffer the adverse effects of stress. And support from peers, but also for individual learning pressure, produce a buffer ingress. When students feel that peer members communicate well with each other, provide Classmates’ support, and build trust in their peers, they have a more positive psychological state and behavior, and can also reduce the negative effects of academic stress. Therefore, this study, in view of the regulatory effects of social support, puts forward the following assumptions:

  • H5: Parental support can moderate the negative impact of academic stress on mental and physical health.

  • H6: Teachers’ support can moderate the negative impact of academic stress on mental and physical health.

  • H7: Classmates’ support can moderate the negative impact of academic stress on mental and physical health.

3 Method

3.1 Participants and Procedures

The study participants were divided into pre-test and formal two stages.

  1. 1.

    Pilot test: 87 students in the Night Data Processing Department of a vocational school in Taiwan. Of these, 49 women and 38 men.

  2. 2.

    Formal test: 232 students in the Day Data Processing of a vocational school in Taiwan. Of these, 124 women and 108 men.

3.2 Research Instrument

This study used questionnaires to examine the relationship between academic stress, physical and mental health and social support. In the design of the questionnaire question items, in addition to some of the basic personal data of the question items, the other measures are on the Likert five-point scale, asking the respondents for the degree of consent to the question item (Table 1).

Table 1. Internal consistency & EFA factor loading.
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The “Social Support Scale” has 13 items. The results of the reliability analysis show that its Cronbach’s alpha (internal consistency coefficient) is .904, with acceptable reliability. The results of the EFA analysis show that KMO = .86, χ2 = 777.194 (df = 78, p < .001), that it is appropriate to factor analysis. Based on the component analysis method (eigenvalue > 1) and varimax orthogonal rotation, extract 3 factors (parental support, PS; teachers’ support, TS; classmate support, CS), the cumulative interpretation variation is 74.08%.

The “Academic Stress Scale” has 10 items original. The reliability analysis deletes 1 item. Results show that Cronbach’s alpha is .856; with acceptable reliability. The results of the EFA analysis show that KMO = .72, χ2 = 135.4335 (df = 6, p < .001), that it is suitable to factor analysis. Based on the component analysis method (eigenvalue > 1) and orthogonal rotation, extract 3 factors (homework stress, HS; learning stress, LS、examination stress, ES), the cumulative interpretation variation is 79.08%.

The “Health Scale” has 8 items. The results of the reliability analysis show that its Cronbach’s alpha (internal consistency coefficient) is .896, with acceptable reliability. The results of the EFA analysis show that KMO = .87, χ2 = 448.031 (df = 28, p < .001), that it is appropriate to factor analysis. Based on the component analysis method (eigenvalue > 1) and orthogonal rotation, extract 2 factors (mental health, MH, negative emotion; physical health, PH), the cumulative interpretation variation is 75.62%.

3.3 Data Analysis

This study used hierarchical regression to analyze the direct effects of learning stress, social support, Classmates’ support on mental and physical health, and to examine the regulatory role of parental support, social support and Classmates’ support in the relationship between work stress and physical and mental health.

4 Results

4.1 Model Tests and Simple Slopes Tests

According to Table 2, first, four control variables, grade, gender, work status, and weekly homework time situation, were placed in the regression program of each model, and it was found that the betas of each model were not significant.

Table 2. Direct effect & moderation analysisa.
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In Model 1A & Model 1B: when AS is placed in the regression program, β = −.45 (ΔR2 = .20, p < .001) and β = −.31 (ΔR2 = .10, p < .001), shows that academic stress has a significant negative impact on mental and physical health. That is, when the higher the academic stress perceived by the vocational students, the worse their mental and physical health. Therefore, hypothesis H1 is supported.

Also, when PS is placed in regression program, β = .14 (ΔR2 = .20, p = .019) & β = .19 (ΔR2 = .03, p = .003), shows that parental support has a significant positive effect on mental and physical health. That is, parental support is helpful to the mental and physical health of vocational students. Therefore, hypothesis H2 is supported.

Finally, when AS-PS interaction terms are placed in regression, β=−.03 (ΔR2 = .00, p = .644) & β = −.02 (ΔR2 = .00, p = .735), not significant. It shows that parental support has no moderation effect on the relationship between academic stress and mental-physical health. Therefore, hypothesis H5 is not supported.

In Model 2A and Model 2B, when TS is placed in regression program, β = .10 (ΔR2 = .01, p = .129) & β = .05 (ΔR2 = .00, p = .444), shows that teachers’ support has no significant positive effect on mental and physical health. Therefore, hypothesis H3 is not supported.

Besides, when AS-TS interaction terms are placed in regression, β=−.07 (ΔR2 = .01, p = .257), not significant; and β = −.21 (ΔR2 = .04, p = .002), significant. Showing that parental support has a moderation effect on the relationship between academic stress and physical health, but has no effect on the relationship between academic stress and mental health. To further test the teachers’ support for the regulation of academic stress and mental health, this study refers to the recommendations of Aiken, West & Reno [14], drawing the interaction status of Fig. 2.

Fig. 2.
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The interaction between academic stress and teachers’ support on physical health.

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Here, simple slopes analysis revealed a negative relationship between academic stress on physical health for students perceived teachers’ support high (B = −357, p < .001, significant), whereas there was no relationship between these constructs for those who were perceived teachers’ support low (B = −.133, p = .061, not significant).

High teachers’ support has a higher slope than low teachers’ support, which shows that teachers’ support improves physical health, but for those with low academic stress, teachers’ support is more effective at improving physical health. When academic stress increases, teachers’ support has less buffer effect on the negative effects of academic stress on physical health. It shows that for students with low academic stress, teachers’ support is beneficial to improving physical health, however, for those with high academic stress, we need to know more about the nature of academic stress and the level of interference. Therefore, H6 is partially supported.

In Model 3A and Model 3B, when CS is placed in regression program, β = .07 (ΔR2 = .00, p = .151) & β = .03 (ΔR2 = .00, p = .488), shows that classmates’ support has no significant positive effect on mental and physical health. Therefore, hypothesis H4 is not supported.

Also, when AS-CS interaction terms are placed in regression, β = −.25 (ΔR2 = .04, p < .001) and β = −.18 (ΔR2 = .03, p = .005), significant. Showing that classmates’ support has a moderation effect on the negative relationship between academic stress and mental health. In other words, students support the negative relationship between academic stress and mental and physical health, which will have a slowing adjustment effect. To further test the classmates’ support for the regulation of academic stress and mental-physical health, drawing the interaction status of Figs. 3 and 4.

Fig. 3.
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The interaction between academic stress and classmates’ support on mental health.

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Fig. 4.
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The interaction between academic stress and classmates’ support on physical health.

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Simple slopes analysis revealed a negative relationship between academic stress on physical health for students perceived classmate support high (B = −.463, p < .001, significant), whereas there was no relationship between these constructs for those who were perceived classmates’ support low (B = −.165, p = .011, significant).

Simple slopes analysis revealed a negative relationship between academic stress on physical health for students perceived classmate support high (B = −.397, p < .001, significant), whereas there was no relationship between these constructs for those who were perceived classmates’ support low (B = −.134, p = .105, not significant).

Comprehensive Figs. 3 and 4, high classmate support has a higher slope than low teachers’ support, which shows that classmate support improves mental-physical health, but for those with low academic stress, classmate support is more effective at improving mental-physical health. When academic stress increases, classmate support has less buffer effect on the negative effects of academic stress on mental-physical health. It shows that for students with low academic stress, classmate support is beneficial to improving mental-physical health, however, for those with high academic stress, we need to know more about the nature of academic stress and the level of interference that classmate support sits on mental-physical health. So, H7 is partially supported.

5 Discussion and Conclusion

To explore the relationship between academic stress and mental-physical health of vocational students. The empirical results of this study support the hypothesis that academic stress has a negative influence on mental and physical health, that is to say, vocational students’ poor physical and mental health is related to high academic stress. Vocation students need more attention in their study life on campus.

To explore the relationship between parental support and mental-physical health of vocational students. The empirical results of this study support the hypothesis that parental support positive effects on mental and physical health, that is, the higher the level of parental support, vocational students’ physical and mental health will be better.

To explore the influence of teachers’ support on the relationship between academic stress and mental health. The empirical results of this study partially support the hypothesis that teachers’ support can reduce the negative effects of learning stress on physical health. It is worth noting that teachers in the campus, in addition to the external performance of students, but also need to pay attention to the internal psychological health of students. Teacher’s excessive concern may cause students more mental stress.

Likewise, this study partially supports the hypothesis that peer support can reduce the negative impact of academic stress on mental-physical health. The development of students’ self-concepts will be influenced by the expectations of others. Excessive expectations will increase self-esteem and pay more attention to academic performance. Further, the tension, stress, and anxiety during the learning process have a negative impact on physical and mental health. Teachers and students should adjust their support and care appropriately and don’t overdo it.

6 Limitations and Future Direction

Our research had the following limitations. First, our research was a limited to specific high student group and the result may not apply to other populations. Second, academic stress only includes learning stress, exam stress, homework stress, no included environmental stress, interpersonal relationships, and other factors. Future studies could be considered for inclusion to make the study more sustainable.