The Influence of Stress Levels on Eating Behavior Among Final-Year College Students of Institut Teknologi Sumatera
College students are generally at risk of experiencing stress levels and eating behavior changes. Stress is a mental disorder faced by someone because of individual failure to fulfill their needs or wants, causing pressure. Several factors can cause stress: emotional, family, social, academic, and financial. Eating behavior is a condition that describes a person's behavior towards eating manners, eating frequency, eating patterns, eating preferences, and food selection. These differences in the eating behaviors shown by college students depend on the severity of the perceived stress and individual characteristics. This research investigates stress levels and eating behavior during the students' final years concerning the factors that influence it. Respondents in this study were 350 individuals, age from 20 – 26,3 years old. Perceived stress was measured by the 10-item Perceived Stress Scale (PSS-10), the scores for which were evaluated by independent t-tests to compare the dietary behaviors of the high- and low perceived stress groups. This study found 177 individuals had high stress levels, while 173 individuals had low stress levels. Differences in the physical activities and dietary behaviors of the college students based on demographics factors such as sex. This study found females had higher scale of stress level than males. The finding indicated that stress levels were significantly correlated with specific eating behaviors including eating when stressed and overeating.
URI
https://repo.itera.ac.id/depan/submission/SB2308070134
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