Perceived Academic Stress and Social Support as Correlates of Type 2 Diabetes Risk Among Accounting Students in West Sulawesi, Indonesia

Abstract

Background: University students are an underexamined group for early metabolic risk, and psychosocial factors during this period are seldom assessed alongside standard diabetes-risk screening.

Methods: This cross-sectional correlational study evaluated perceived academic stress, perceived social support, and the risk of Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) among 137 undergraduate Accounting students at a public university in West Sulawesi, Indonesia, using proportional stratified random sampling across seven class strata. Academic stress was measured using the Perceptions of Academic Stress Scale (PAS), social support using the Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support (MSPSS), and T2DM risk using the Finnish Diabetes Risk Score (FINDRISC). Associations were analyzed using Spearman’s rank-order correlation (α = .05).

Result: Most students reported high academic stress (54.0%) and high perceived social support (52.6%). FINDRISC identified 23.4% of students as having moderate and 3.6% as having high T2DM risk. Academic stress showed a positive correlation with T2DM risk (rs = 0.230, p = .007), while perceived social support correlated negatively with T2DM risk (rs = −0.270, p = .001) and with academic stress (rs = −0.231, p = .007).

Conclusion: All associations were statistically significant but small in magnitude. These results suggest that psychosocial stress and support are already linked to early metabolic risk prior to graduation. Campus health services, especially in non-health faculties where psychosocial screening is uncommon, should include brief stress- management and social-support interventions as part of routine T2DM prevention programs.