Assessing the Level of Digital Stress among Students

Abstract

This study investigates digital stress, the stress arising from constant connectivity and social media use, among students in two different educational settings in Azamgarh, Uttar Pradesh. While digital stress is known to affect mental health, little is known about how it differs between students in high-pressure exam preparation and those in regular school. For the current study, 310 students were taken as sample. The sample was further divided into 159 male/151 female and 155 NEET/155 school students. All participants completed a validated Digital Stress Scale.  The result was analysed using t-test analysis. Findings reveal that male students reported higher digital stress than female students (t=2.548, p=.011) and school students reported significantly higher digital stress than NEET aspirants (t = 2.765, p = .006). These findings suggest that a highly focused, goal-oriented academic environment may offer some protection against the broad stressors of the digital world, while more diffuse school schedules may leave students more vulnerable. The results also highlight important gender differences in how digital stress is experienced. This study underscores the need for educational strategies that address digital well-being, tailored to specific academic contexts and student groups.