Peer support as a protective factor against academic stress among working students completing their theses

Abstract

Purpose: to examine the relationship between peer social support and academic stress among working parallel-class students at Universitas Esa Unggul who were completing their undergraduate theses.

Method: this study employed a quantitative, non-experimental design involving 157 working parallel-class students at Universitas Esa Unggul who were completing their undergraduate theses. Participants were selected using purposive sampling. Data were collected using the Student-Life Stress Inventory (SSI) and a peer social support scale and analyzed using simple linear regression.

Findings: peer social support significantly and negatively predicted academic stress among working students completing their undergraduate theses. Peer social support accounted for 8.4% of the variance in academic stress, indicating that higher peer social support was associated with lower academic stress.

Implications: peer social support is an interpersonal resource for managing academic stress among working students completing their undergraduate theses and suggests the need for universities to strengthen peer-based academic and emotional support systems.

Originality: lies in its focus on the role of peer social support in academic stress among working parallel-class students completing their undergraduate theses, a population that has received limited attention in previous research, particularly at Universitas Esa Unggul.