Perceived Stress, Cognitive Distortion, Sense of Coherence and Health among College Students

College students are at an augmented risk of not only perceived stress but also cognitive distortion and this can have an unbelievable impact on their health. Sense of coherence seems to be one of the most important ways in which health is perceived in recent years. The present study explored the relationship between perceived stress, cognitive distortion, sense of coherence and general health among college students. The sample consisted of 125 undergraduate college students (62 boys and 63 girls) aged between 18 to 20 years. The sample was selected from different colleges in Chennai. All the participants responded to the Perceived Stress Scale (Cohen), Sense of Coherence Scale (Antonovsky), Cognitive Distortion Scale (Briere) and General Health Questionnaire (Goldberg). Bivariate statistics showed that general health was positively related to dimensions of cognitive distortion and perceived stress, while it was negatively associated with sense of coherence (SOC). A gender difference was found wherein girls scored significantly higher on the self- blame and helplessness dimensions of cognitive distortion and also in terms of perceived stress and general health. This clearly indicated that girls perceive more stress and experience more health issues when compared to the boys. Regression analysts revealed that perceived stress is an important predictor of general health. The self-criticism and hopelessness subscales of cognitive distortion emerged to be good predictors of general health in conjunction with certain demographic like age, gender and number of siblings. The results of the study highlight the need to provide college students with appropriate support and guidance through the challenging years of college. This need is more pronounced for girls because they seem to be internalizing their responses to stress. Interventions that channelize their strengths to promote more adaptive ways of coping with stress are imperative.