Educational stress, anxiety, and academic success among Palestinian university students

BackgroundStudent success is a complex concept that combines personal engagement with measurable performance. Within the specific educational environment of Palestine, unique contextual challenges are frequently linked with elevated levels of educational stress and anxiety, which are in turn inversely associated with academic outcomes. This study investigates the relationship between academic success, educational stress, and anxiety symptoms among Palestinian university students.MethodsA cross-sectional design was employed with a sample of 1,397 students. Data were gathered using translated Arabic versions of the Academic Success Inventory for College Students (ASICS) and the Educational Stress Scale for Adolescents (ESSA), alongside the Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD-7) scale. The analytical framework utilized descriptive statistics to characterize the sample and a four-step hierarchical regression analysis to determine the relative predictive power of demographic, social, and psychological factors on academic success.ResultsDescriptive findings indicated that the majority of students experienced moderate to severe symptoms of educational stress, with over half the sample reporting elevated anxiety symptoms. Hierarchical regression analysis revealed that the final model was statistically significant, explaining 23.2% of the total variance in academic success. Anxiety symptoms emerged as the factor most strongly associated with lower academic success, followed by symptoms of educational stress. Conversely, high baseline GPA, robust teacher student relationships, female gender, earlier years of study, a medical and health field of study and good sleep quality were significantly associated with higher success. Demographic factors, including family income, participant age, and geographical governorate, were not independently associated with academic success once psychological, health, and relational factors were controlled.ConclusionsThe results underscore the critical need for comprehensive mental health support, sleep hygiene awareness, and targeted educational interventions within Palestinian university environments. Institutional strategies should prioritize reducing academic anxiety and stress while actively fostering supportive teacher student relationships.