PSYCHOLOGICAL DISTRESS AMONG UNIVERSITY STUDENTS: AN INTEGRATIVE REVIEW

Abstract

Upon entering academic life, students are required to adapt to a new lifestyle, assuming responsibilities such as an excessive study workload, high levels of academic demands related to the educational process, adjustment to new sleep routines, and new demands regarding time management and study strategies. These factors may increase students’ vulnerability to the development of mental disorders, negatively affecting their quality of life and contributing to the emergence and maintenance of psychological distress. The aim of this article is to identify risk factors associated with academic life that cause or intensify psychological distress among university students. Accordingly, this study was conducted through an integrative review, based on searches carried out in the SciELO and LILACS/Virtual Health Library (VHL) databases, covering the period from 2013 to 2023. The findings indicate that academic aspects constituting risk factors for psychological distress include financial difficulties, difficulties in adapting to the university system—characterized by extensive curricula and excessive workload—poor academic performance, dissatisfaction with the chosen course, and concerns about future professional prospects. It is therefore concluded that academic institutions can mitigate such distress by promoting actions that take into account how university students experience the educational process, focusing on mental health and providing resources to develop initiatives that address student distress, such as offering psychological support services for this population.