ACADEMIC ADVISING PROGRAM: A PERCEPTION FROM

EMOTIONS, STRESS AND WELL-BEING IN UNIVERSITY CONTEXT

M. De Souza Martins, S. Posada-Bernal
Universidad Santo Tomás (COLOMBIA)

Abstract
Introduction: In the Colombian university context, student support programs stay designed as
academic and emotional support strategies for those students who have difficulties in their educational
process. In this sense, these programs are concerned with favoring students in the development of
university life, once they affront changes and responsibilities associated with learning. Objective:
Analyze the student’s perception of the Academic Advising Program (AAP) in the Department of
Humanities and Integral Formation (DHIF) at the Universidad Santo Tomás - Bogotá. Theoretical
Framework: The demands of the academic context demand a greater responsibility from the student
with the acquired commitments. As well as, the university students report high levels of stress
associated with the activities that imply evidence of their academic achievement. Martín (2007)
declare that there have been effects on the health of students in stressful situations that require follow-
up by university institutions. In this context, the AAP emerge as a strategy of academic counseling,
aimed at providing comprehensive care to students who have or have had problems of an academic,
family and social. Methodology: Quantitative descriptive cross-sectional study. Participants: the
sample was N=445 students aged 33.5±17.5 years, with validation of 95% of the students tested
(p<0.05) in the DHIF academic spaces at the first semester of 2018. The sample being 46% (n=204)
from of the female gender and 54% (n=241) for the male gender. Instruments and Procedure: A self-
administered questionnaire it was designed Likert Scale that includes 25 questions divided into 3
analysis criteria about psychosocial variables: Emotions (E), Stress (S) and Well-being (WB). Results:
The sample presented a positive index for E. Comparing between genders, the women show an
emotional tendency of 20% lower in E than men. For women, 40% (n=80) cannot act productively
when they are angry; as also, 36% (n=73) are not productive when they are in situations of anxiety.
For S, the same positive trend presented in the E variable stay. In this sense, the female gender
shows 8% lower than men; 12% (n=24) of women fail to solve the problems presented in academic
spaces, and 21% (n=43) fail to achieve the academic goals that are proposed. On the other hand, the
WB presents a negative index, which reflects attitudes, values and habits of the students independent
of the gender. For 54% (n=241) do not realize a regular physical exercise at least twice a week, they
also do not involve strength and muscle stretching activities. In particular, men show a negative trend,
with 13% higher than women in the consumption of tobacco and alcohol daily, which represents 40%
(n=97) of the male gender. Conclusions: The results show that there is a difference in E and S in
terms of gender. For women it is difficult to manage their emotions in situations of academic pressure,
which can affect their productivity. In the case of men, they have a better management of emotions.
However, they show a high consumption of tobacco and alcohol as an alternative to reduce the levels
of stress produced by academic demands. Finally, it is necessary to strengthen the strategies of the
AAP that allows to minimize the effects of these variables.
Keywords: Academic Advising, University Students, Stress, Emotions.

1 INTRODUCTION
In Colombian the demands of the academic context demand a greater responsibility from the student
with the acquired commitments. As well as, the university students report high levels of stress
associated with the activities that imply evidence of their academic achievement. Martín [1] declare
that there have been effects on the health of students in stressful situations that require follow-up by
university institutions.
In this sense, academic advising program is a strategy of academic counselling for help the students
to resolves the problems about of stress, which can influence their motivation for studying, in well-
being and health status [2]. In this context, the academic advising program is developed as a strategy
of academic accompaniment, aimed at providing comprehensive care to students who have academic,
family and social problems.

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For Lazarus and Folkman [3], the stress is constituted in a relationship between the individual and the
environment, where the person perceives a danger that exceeds or equals their resources to face
them; this has to do with the demands of the context insofar as these constitute a risk to their well-
being. This manifestation of stress is related to a cognitive assessment and a coping process.
In the university context, students assess whether the different academic situations can cause an
affection in esteem, in terms of the abilities to maintain the expected academic performance and, on
the other hand, the student must decide how to face or not the diverse academic situations, especially
the one that have to do with the evaluation.
In addition, it is not only important to take into account stress in university students, but also the
management of emotions in educational processes, related to anxiety and its influence with evaluation
and academic performance; as well as the relationship between emotion and motivation to explain
academic success and failure [4]. At the same time, it is possible to mention that the ability of students
to regulate their emotions is a fundamental element to face the stressful events that are presented to
students on a daily basis, to prevent the onset of depression, anxiety, stress and poor academic
achievement [5].
Nowadays, many researchers claim that well-being are behaviors related to habits. Nahas [6], states
that lifestyles are a set of habitual actions that reflect the attitudes, values and opportunities in
people's lives. For the World Health Organization - WHO [7] as a general way of life, based on the
interaction of living conditions and individual patterns of behaviour, determined by sociocultural factors
and personal characteristics.
According to the literature, Well-being are part of a dynamic process, which not only includes
behaviors of the individual associated with behavioral patterns, but also involves a series of
environmental elements, such as the family, education and society in general. Both have a direct
influence on the health of a person, so, depending on how persons live their lives the activities they
perform, their routines or habits and the environment that surrounds them, so their health condition
can be affected or not.
For Hernández, Oliva and Pertegal [8], cited by De Souza et al [9], the establishment of these habits
of life have to do with the moment of the life cycle in which the human being is. Particularly in the
adolescence, when the students start their university life, important psychological and contextual
changes occur, in which young people go out and meet their peers without adult control and gain
autonomy to make decisions related to leisure and daily life. From these first approximations, a series
of behaviours mould the lifestyle that will predominate in adulthood.
In that order of ideas, lifestyles depend on the variety of decisions students make and affect them;
Sometimes if they are negative for health, students would incur a self-risk that predisposes them to not
only physical but psychological illnesses. In this way, the student accompaniment programs favour the
development of behaviour patterns that affect the way of life and the way in which students face their
daily routines within the university.

2 METHODOLOGY
The methodological approach used to achieve the proposed objectives of this research was centered
on a cross-sectional descriptive quantitative study, which according to Sampieri et al. [10], this type of
methodology seeks to specify properties and important characteristics of any analyzed phenomenon
and to describe trends of a group or population.
For the study, a sample was selected of n=445 students with age 33.5 ± 17.5 years, registered in the
academic spaces of the Department of Humanities and Integral Formation at the Universidad Santo
Tomás – Bogotá, at the first semester of 2018. The sample exceeds the confidence level and with
validation of the sample of 90% of the students students tested (p<0.05).
In order to carry in this investigation, the instrument applied was a self-administered questionnaire with
has a Likert scale that includes 10 questions divided into 2 analysis criteria about psychosocial
variables: Emotions and Stress.
On the other hand, for Well-being the instrument applied was a self-administered questionnaire called
Pentagon of Well-being [6], it has a Likert scale that assesses lifestyles and includes five factors:
Nutritional Factor, Physical Activity, Preventive Conduct, Social Relationships and Stress Control. For
the best comprehension, the figure 1 shows the all of 15 items related with the 5 factors related to the

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current lifestyle. For this investigation, in the variable of Well-being were used the factors: Nutritional
Factor, Physical Activity and Preventive Conduct.

Fig.1 – “Pentagon of Well-being” [6]

For Nahas [6], the nutrition, stress, physical activity, preventive behaviour and social relationships are
the components that affect the health of people and are associated with psychological Well-being. The
concern about Well-being appears in research from the 20th century and the early 21st century which
affirm that the lifestyle is a behavioral blueprint that is merged into habits. In addition, Nahas [6] affirms
that Well-being is understood as the combination of habitual actions that reflect the attitudes, values,
and life opportunities of people, in addition, it is constituted by five factors mainly including: stress,
diet, relationships, pre-emptive behavior and physical activity.
Therefore, is important observe the perception from emotions, stress and well-being in university
context of young people because it allows to identify associations between some habits, and the
exposure to risky situations at certain times throughout life.

3 RESULTS
The sample presented a positive index for Emotions. Comparing between genders in this variable, the
female sample show an emotional tendency of 20% lower in contrast with male sample. For negative
index about the female gender, 40% (n=80) cannot act productively when they are angry; as also,
36% (n=73) are not productive when they are in situations of anxiety (Graph 1).

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In relation to Stress (Graph 2), the same positive trend presented in the Emotions variable stay. In this
sense, the female gender shows 8% lower than male sample. In this sense, 12% (n=24) of female
sample fail to solve the problems presented in academic spaces, and 21% (n=43) fail to achieve the
academic goals that are proposed.

On the other hand, the Well-being (Graph 3), presents a negative index, which reflects attitudes,
values and habits of the students independent of the gender. In relation the variable of Physical
Activity, the students were classified as sedentary and do not exercise a physical activity in a
moderate or intense for more than 30 minutes, three times a week; likewise, prefer the use elevator
rather than stairs. For average of general sample, 54% (n=241) do not realize a regular physical
exercise at least twice a week, they also do not involve strength and muscle stretching activities. In
addition, in the variable of the Preventive Conduct, male show a negative trend, with 13% higher than
female sample in the consumption of tobacco and alcohol daily, which represents 40% (n=97) of the
male gender. Finally, the Nutritional Factor show the students does not include fruits and vegetables in
their daily diet and consume less than five foods during the day. In addition, male gender show a
negative index, with 13% higher than female sample in the consumption of high-fat and sugary foods
daily, which represents 57% (n=136) of the male sample.

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4 CONCLUSIONS
The information from this investigation allows us to confirm that the university is a place where
students found themselves through personal and social development. The promotion of program
Academic Advising Program about psychosocial variables (Emotions, Stress and Well-being) as a
cross axis in the Department of Humanities and Integral Formation at the Universidad Santo Tomás -
Bogotá, turns into a strategy that strengthens the educational institutional project, the human
development and integral formation.
From this study, it was demonstrated that there is a negative tendency of psychosocial variables in the
student population. In this sense, continuous processes of individual formation frame lifestyles and
conducts, the reduction of lifestyle levels in the students, affects negatively their academic
environment.
The results show that there is a difference in Emotions and Stress in terms of gender. For women it is
difficult to manage their emotions in situations of academic pressure, which can affect their
productivity. In the case of men, they have a better management of emotions. However, they show a
high consumption of tobacco and alcohol as an alternative to reduce the levels of stress produced by
academic demands. Finally, it is necessary to strengthen the strategies of the Academic Advising
Program that allows to minimize the effects of these variables.
However, to optimize the Academic Advising Program in the Department of Humanities and Integral
Formation, the results show that it is necessary to develop strategies that strengthen students'
confidence in their own abilities since they feel good in their role, but what they do to achieve
academic goals is not enough. Another support strategy is to create alternatives so that students can
make appropriate decisions that can handle academic pressure, which can directly affect their stay in
the university.
In conclusion, is important to offer since the beginning of university life a tools for the management of
healthy nutritional habits, the implications of tobacco and alcohol consumption throughout life and the
adherence of physical activity like a channel for control emotion and stress in this context.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
This research is part of the FODEIN 2018 and sponsored by the Investigation Unity
of the Universidad Santo Tomas, Bogotá - Colombia. We thank the Department of
Humanities and Integral Formation, its students and teachers for their participation
in the execution of this work.

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