10th U6+ Consortium of African Universities International Conference

This study assessed the coping strategies employed for managing academic stress among undergraduates at the University of Ilorin, Kwara State, with specific focus on three maladaptive strategies (substance use, class absenteeism, and excessive sleeping) and two adaptive strategies (planning and time management, and family support).The study adopted a descriptive survey design and a multistage sampling procedure, comprising purposive selection of five faculties (Education, Social Sciences, Arts, Engineering and Technology, and Communication and Information Sciences) and proportionate and convenience sampling of respondents within each faculty, to draw a sample of 212 undergraduates from a target population of 21,510 students. Data were collected using a researcher-designed instrument, the Academic Stress and Coping Strategies Questionnaire (ASCSQ), whose validity was established through face and content validation and whose reliability was confirmed through a pilot study (Cronbach’s alpha = 0.70). Data were analysed using descriptive statistics (frequency counts and percentages) to answer the research questions, while the Chi-square test of independence was used to test the hypotheses at the 0.05 level of significance. The findings showed that although most respondents reported never engaging in substance use (85.4% to 92.0% across items), the Chi-square tests confirmed that substance use, class absenteeism, and excessive sleeping were all statistically significant coping behaviours among a minority of the sample, with substance use producing the largest Chi-square value (χ² = 1459.274), followed by class absenteeism (χ² = 154.943) and excessive sleeping (χ² = 53.642). In contrast, the findings revealed strong and consistent endorsement of adaptive strategies, with planning and time management (χ² = 141.453) and family support (χ² = 125.142) both confirmed as statistically significant coping strategies, attracting combined “Always/Sometimes” endorsement of over 60% across most items. The study concludes that University of Ilorin undergraduates draw on both maladaptive and adaptive strategies to manage academic stress, with adaptive strategies, particularly planning and time management and family support, more strongly and consistently endorsed than maladaptive ones, although a statistically significant minority resorts to substance use, absenteeism, and excessive sleeping. It is recommended that university counselling services design targeted interventions for students engaging in maladaptive coping, that academic advisors and orientation programmes incorporate time-management skills training, and that the university strengthen family-engagement and peer/community support structures to reinforce adaptive coping among undergraduates.