Analyzing financial stress and its impact on mental health among Bangladeshi undergraduate students using SPSS and SmartPLS

Abstract

Undergraduate students are particularly susceptible to financial stress, which can severely undermine both mental health and academic achievement. Students were required to skillfully navigate a complex financial environment, which often included unstable personal finances, rapidly increasing tuition costs, and diminishing financial support from parents and family. This study investigated the association between financial struggles and mental health outcomes among undergraduate students, with the aim of examining how financial resources, job insecurity, and perceptions of financial instability influence stress levels among undergraduate students in Bangladesh and how these factors relate to overall well-being and academic achievement. Using a Likert scale, 448 responses from Undergraduate students to an anonymous online survey were examined in this quantitative study. The survey examined the connection between financial difficulties, job insecurity, and perceptions of financial instability with stress, well-being, and academic performance. It aimed to evaluate how these financial factors contributed to stress and their correlation with overall mental health and academic outcomes. This study utilizes SPSS and SmartPLS to analyze the results and test several hypothesis. Various statistical analysis techniques, including one-way ANOVA, two-way ANOVA, independent samples t-test were used in this research, and Cronbach’s Alpha, Average Variance Extracted (AVE), Fornell- Larcker Criterion and other relevant testing were employed to validate the hypothesis. This study concluded that there is an unmet need for psychological support for university students in Bangladesh. Appropriate support services should be directed to them to help and to overcome the financial challenges they face.