Reported personal stress sources and adjustment of entering freshmen.

SOURCES OF PERSONAL STRESS AS PERCEIVED BY 500 ENTERING FRESHMEN WERE INVESTIGATED TO DETERMINE HOW THEY MIGHT BE RELATED TO ADJUSTMENT. THE TOTAL DEVIATION SCORE ON THE MMPI WAS USED AS A MEASURE OF ADJUSTMENT WITH THE 100 HIGHEST DEVIATIONS DESIGNATED AS THE MALADJUSTED AND THE LOWEST 100 AS THE ADJUSTED. 15 OF THE 26 STRESS SOURCES MEASURED WERE FOUND TO BE SIGNIFICANTLY RELATED TO HIGH TOTAL DEVIATION SCORES ON THE MMPI, SUGGESTING FURTHER EXPLORATORY USE OF THE PERSONAL STRESS SCALE AS A SCREENING DEVICE FOR QUICK DETERMINATION OF POSSIBLY DISTURBED STUDENTS. ALSO SUGGESTED ARE ORIENTATION PROGRAM AREAS THAT MIGHT BE ADJUSTED TO BETTER MEET THE NEEDS OF FRESHMEN ATTEMPTING TO COPE WITH THE TRANSITIONAL STRESS OF ENTERING A RESIDENTIAL UNIVERSITY. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2006 APA, all rights reserved)