Stress and Anxiety

Below are questions pertaining to Reed students' feelings about stress and anxiety.

How much stress do you experience on an average day? (do you think most Reed students...)

Year: 2015
Scale: 0 = not much stress at all, 5 = a moderate amount of stress, but still able to maintain work/life balance, 10 = extreme stress to the point of sacrificing mental or physical well-being

Actual norm = 5.80 (SD = 2.18)
Perceived norm = 6.32 (SD = 1.39)
p < .003, significant

Participants report that they experience less stress than the average Reed student on an average day.

How much stress do you experience? 

Year: 2013
Scale: 1 (not very much) to 7 (a lot)

Actual norm = 4.89 (SD = 1.35)
Perceived norm = 5.56 (SD = 0.86)
p < .0001, significant

Participants report that they experience less stress than the average Reed student.

How often do you feel that you’re not “good enough” for Reed?

Year: 2012
Scale: 1 (never) to 7 (always)

Actual norm = 3.81 (SD = 1.70)
Perceived norm = 4.24 (SD = 1.09)
p < 0.0001, significant

Participants report that they feel that they're not "good enough" for Reed less often than most Reed students.

How do you feel that your outward demeanor reflects the amount of personal difficulty you’re having?

Year: 2012
Scale: 1 (strongly understates) to 7 (strongly overstates)

Actual norm = 3.16 (SD = 1.29)
Perceived norm = 3.52 (SD = 1.32)
p < 0.03, significant

Participants report that their outward demeanor understates the amount of personal difficulty they're having compared to the average Reed student.

How stressed do you feel you are?

Year: 2012
Scale: 1 (not at all) to 7 (extremely)

Actual norm = 4.63 (SD = 1.39)
Perceived norm = 5.54 (SD = 0.96)
p < 0.0001, significant

Participants report that they feel less stressed than the average Reed student.