Full Report

FSM4101: RESEARCH METHODS IN FOODSERVICE
UNIVERSITY PUTRA MALAYSIA

FACULTY OF FOOD SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
RESEARCH METHODS IN FOODSERVICE

FSM 4101
THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN MENTAL STRESS AND EATIONG DISORDER: A

CASE STUDY IN UNIVERSITY PUTRA MALAYSIA, SERDANG
GROUP 5
GROUP MEMBERS :
NAME
MATRIC NO.
NURUL AMIRAH BT SUHAIMI
167697
NUR IZZATIEY FARAHIN SYAMIMI BINTI ZAKI
167703
NURRANI AMIERA BINTI MOHD RADZI
167257
NABILAH BINTI ABD MAJID
171061
NORLINA BINTI MOHD RAZALI
167679
LECTURERS NAME: DR CHUA BEE LIA
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THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN MENTAL STRESS AND EATING BEHAVIOR AMONG

UNIVERSITY PUTRA MALAYSIA (UPM) STUDENTS
NABILAH BINTI ABD MAJID

NORLINA BINTI MOHD RAZALI
NUR IZZATIEY FARAHIN SYAMIMI BINTI ZAKI
NURRANI AMIERA BINTI MOHD RADZI
NURUL AMIRAH BINTI SUHAIMI
A Project Report Submitted to the Faculty of Food Science and Technology in Partial Fulfillment
of the Requirements for the Course of Research Methods in Foodservice (FSM4101)

SERDANG, SELANGOR
2015
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ABSTRACT
THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN MENTAL STRESS AND EATING BEHAVIOR AMONG
UNIVERSITY PUTRA MALAYSIA (UPM) STUDENTS
Nabilah Binti Abd Majid (171061), Norlina Binti Mohd Razali (167679),
Nur Izzatiey Farahin Syamimi Binti Zaki (167703), Nurrani Amiera Binti Mohd Radzi (167257),
Nurul Amirah Bt Suhaimi (167697)
Lecturer: Chua Bee Lia
Mental stress can be defined as a form of stress that occurs because of how an event in ones
external or internal environment are perceived, resulting in the psychological experience of
distress and anxiety (Folkman & Lazarus, 1984). University students have to face obstacles to
survive in independent living and also in academic challenges. The high expectation in academic
achievement and overload of assignment had burden the students, and then created a stressful in
academic environment to the students. The purpose of this research is to investigate how
academic stress influences students eating habits. The factors that act as the independent
variables of this research are health conscious, curricular structure, and financial factor. The
research was conducted among 160 respondents which are final year students of University Putra
Malaysia. The data analysis was done by using SPSS version 22.0. The results revealed that only
financial factor has a significant relationship with the academic stress. Also, the hypothesis of
this study has been proved and accepted. Therefore, students must control their mental stress in
order to lead a healthier life.
Keywords: Eating disorder, mental stress, academic mental stress, health conscious, curricular
structure, financial factor
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Abstract
Table of Content
List of Tables
1.0
2.0
3.0
INTRODUCTION
1.1
Introduction
1.2
Background of Study
1.3
Problem Statement
1.4
Objectives
1.5
Significance of Study
6
6
9
11
11
LITERATURE REVIEW
2.1
Stress
2.2
Mental Health
2.3
Academic Stress
2.4
Effects of Stress
2.5
Eating Disorder
2.6
Curricular Structure
2.7
Financial
2.8
Hypotheses of Research
12
13
14
15
16
18
19
21
METHODOLOGY
3.1
Research Design
3.2
Sampling Procedure
3.2.1 Sample
3.2.2 Sampling Target
3.3
Data Collection
3.4
Questionnaire Design
3.5
Pilot Test
3.6
Data Analysis
3.6.1 Descriptive Data Analysis
3.6.2 Regression Analysis
22
23
23
23
23
24
25
26
26
26
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4.0
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

4.1
4.2
4.3
5.0
Frequency Distribution of the Respondents SocioDemographic

Reliability Tests
Analysis of Regressions
4.3.1 The factors that affect students mental stress
4.3.1.1 Health Conscious
4.3.1.2 Curricular Structure
4.3.1.3 Financial Factor
4.3.2 The relationship between academic mental
stress and students eating disorder
27
30
30
30
31
33
34
36
CONCLUSION
5.1
Conclusion
38
5.2
Limitations
39
5.3
Recommendations
39
5.4
Managerial Implication
41
6.0
REFERENCES
42
7.0
APPENDICES
45
LIST OF TABLES
Table 4.1:
28
Table 4.2:
30
Table 4.3:
31
Table 4.4:
32
Table 4.5:
33
Table 4.6:
33
Table 4.7:
34
Table 4.8:
35
Table 4.9:
36
Table 4.10:
36
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CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION
1.1
Introduction
Generally, in this chapter, there are four important topics that will be discussed in order
to describe more details about current research study. The first topics that will be pointed out are
background of the research, which explains briefly about the background of this research base on
previous study or other educational references. Secondly, problem statement, which conveys a
specific issue that need to be addressed. Third is the objective of research or also known as the
purpose statement of the researchers intent that can be a medium of communication to others.
Finally, a significant of study is referring to the important of the study that might be useful either
to the beneficiaries or end-users. This study is divided into five chapters and each chapter must
be strongly clarified to make people comprehend on what the researcher eager to achieve by
conducting the study.
1.2
Background of the Research

University students have to face the challenges to survive in independent living and also
in academic challenges. The high expectation in academic achievement and overload of

assignment had burden the students, and then created a stressful in academic environment to the
students. According to Ishikawa, Uehara, Kubota, Oshima and Takeuchi, (2010) the university
students have to adapt the various psychosocial changes within coping with the academic and
social demand for preparing to the career life in the future. The National Health and Morbidity
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Survey III (NHMS III) reported that young Malaysian in the range age of 16-24 years old had the
highest prevalence of acute and chronic suicidal ideation (10.0% and 26.0%, respectively)
compared to other age groups (Institute for Public Health, 2008). The most common
psychological problems among students are depression, anxiety, and stress (Dyrbye, Shanafelt &
Thomas, 2006).
Overload stress has been defined as the excessive amounts and types of demands that
needed action experienced by an individual, and it contributes to the development of other
problems (Lunney & Myszak, 1997). The curriculum structure and financial problems are the
main factors that contribute the academic stress among the students. The curriculum structure is
the planning program in teaching process. The choices of certain courses have been found to be
associated with the stress problem among the students (Bayram & Bilgel, 2008; Ko, 1999). The
number of subject taken and the credit hours that students have to accomplish their study in the
university are a part of curriculum structure that put up the students in high level of stress. For
example, the final year student should have to complete their final year project as a requirement
to graduate in duration of two semesters, but on the same time they should have to take other
courses too. Thus, the students desire in academic achievement is lead them to be in a stress
stage.
In a university life, the financial problem is the major problem to the students. From the
previous study by Andrews and Wilding (2004), the students hailing from a low socioeconomic
background, the added element of financial vulnerability further exacerbates depression, anxiety,
and stress. The students need more money to invest in their study to buy reference books, for
printing, and so on. Besides, they also need money for their own personal uses. So, the students
from low financial background will be stressed and pressured with this problem. A previous
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study conducted on the students in the United States found that the students to screen positive for
anxiety disorders among those with current financial struggles (Eiseberg, Golberstein, Gollust &
Hefner, 2007).
Eating disorders are characterized by behaviors aiming to achieve or maintain a slim
body shape, great importance is given to thinness as a requisite for self-esteem (Gilles, Jol,
Laure, Marie, Pierre & Sebastien, 2015). The university students that have mental stress will give
the effect to the eating disorder of the students. Eating disorders are particularly frequent in
young adults including the university students (Gilles et al, 2015). They stated that eating
disorders symptoms are pervasive in university students, with a prevalence ranging from 8% to
17% and peaking around 30% in students with war stress in Lebanon.
Besides, according to the American Psychological Association (2015), a majority of
Americans reported experience moderate or high levels of stress and chronic life of stress is
associated with greater engagement in comfort eating or the consumption of high-fat, highsugar, or high calorie comfort food with a concurrent emotional state (Nowson & Torres,
2007). In order to define the relationship between the mental stress and eating disorders among
university students, this study was conducted to describe the experience from the students who
were experiencing it.
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1.3
Problem Statement
Mental stress can be defined as a form of stress that occurs because of how an event in
ones external or internal environment are perceived, resulting in the psychological experience of
distress and anxiety (Folkman & Lazarus, 1984). Basically, mental stress is accompanied by
physiological responses (Cacioppo, 1994). Usually, mental stress is induced in the laboratory by
demanding and or noxious stimuli, involving motivation to meet a performance criterion
(Blascovich, Mendes, Saloman, Seery & Tomaka, 2003) and or social-evaluative threat
(Dickerson & Kemeny, 2004) or interpersonal interactions, particularly those involving conflict
(Glass & Singer, 1972). Normally, mental stress tasks include preparing and giving a speech,
performing arithmetic, tracing around star with only a mirror image as a guide, performing a
reaction time task (Steptoe & Vogele, 1991) and discussing a disagreed upon topic with another
people (Gottman & Levenson, 1992).
According to Mental Health Foundation (2015), mental health symptoms can be divided
into two groups called either neurotic or psychotic symptoms. Neurotic can be regarded as
severe forms of normal emotional experiences such as depression, anxiety or panic while
psychotic symptoms may include hallucinations such as seeing, hearing, smelling or feeling
things that no one else can. Based on previous study, depression has been singled out. For
example, a review from epidemiological studies of childhood and adolescent depression by
Birmaher, Brent, Dahl, Kaufman, Nelson, Perel, Ryan, and Williamson (1996) found that the
prevalence rates of depression range between 0.4% and 2.5% in children and between 0.4% and
8.3% in adolescent. Previous study also found gender differences in the presentation of mental
illness. More specifically, female tends to have more episodic problems, for examples
depression, and milder manifestation, such as non-aggressive conduct disorders differ with males
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tend to have more aggressive conduct disorders (Bardone, Caspi, Dickson, Moffitt, Silva &
Stanton, 1998). The previous research could be a reference and help in completing this study.
Students often experienced extreme mental stress due to their academic (Biggs, Chapman
& Wan, 1992). Sax (1997) points out that compare to juniors and seniors, freshmen and
sophomore students have higher influences to mental stress. Academic stress is predicted as
anxiety, time management, and leisure satisfaction. Academic, financial, time or health related,
and self-imposed are categorized as the common stressors affecting students (Goodman, 1993
LeRoy, 1988). In addition, Carveth, Gesse, and Moss (1996) concluded that academic stressors
include the student's perception of the extensive knowledge base required and the perception of
an inadequate time to develop it. Not only that, students are reported to face mental stress at
predictable times each semester where the greatest sources of academic stress resulting from
taking and studying for exams, grade competition, and the large amount of content to master in a
small amount of time (Abouserie, 1994 Archer & Lamnin, 1985 Britton & Tesser, 1991 Frazer
& Kohn, 1986).
In order to prevent mental stress among university students, anxiety reduction such as
eating snacks and junk food, time management in conjunction with leisure activities are some
mechanisms or methods for reducing academic stress among the university students (Sax, 1997).
In the other words, students eating habits change when they are facing or experiencing mental
stress. Through this study, hopefully, the others key factors that influenced mental stress, and the
relationship between eating habits and mental stress of university students will be discovered.
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1.4
Objectives of Research
The specific objectives of the research are listed as below:

1.
To investigate the factors that affect students academic stress
2.
To identify the relationship between academic mental stress and students eating
disorder.
1.5
Significant of Research
This research was conducted to study the relationship between academic mental stress
and eating disorder among university students in Malaysia. This research was chosen since as
students, it is importance to know the factors that might affect the successfulness in university.
This study is importance because it contributes the new knowledge on how academic mental
stress could influence students eating pattern which can caused eating disorder. Besides that,
this study will provide the information and knowledge on the factor that affecting academic
stress and potential change of eating pattern among university students. On top of that, this study
also will be comparing the change of eating pattern influence by academic stress between gender
which is male and female. This study also might increase awareness among university students
on how importance to handle academic stress efficiently in order to survive until the end of
graduation day. Last but not least, this study might be useful to the reader by giving some
information and another source of reference for future study.
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CHAPTER 2
LITERATURE REVIEW
This chapter discusses the concept and previous studies that related to the objectives of this study
in order to gain more understanding. This chapter consists of eight parts which are stress, mental
health, academic stress, effect of stress, eating disorder, curriculum structure, financial and
hypothesis of research.
2.1
Stress
The stress experience exists in all human beings at all ages in varying degrees (Holmes &
Rahe, 1967; Keil, 2004; Lazarus & Folkman, 1984; Motzer & Hertig, 2004; Power, 2004; Selye,
1956, 1974, 1976). The persons response to a stressor such as an environmental condition or a
stimulus is called as a stress. Stress is describing a set of physical and psychological response to
adverse conditions or influences (Selye, 1964). The word stress is derived from Latins word that
is stringer was generally used to mean the adversity, straits, affliction, and hardship. In the
other meaning, stress is the interaction between the situation and the individual. According to
Lunney (2006), the proposed defining characteristics are perceives situational stress as excessive,
expresses a feeling of tension or pressure, expresses difficulty in functioning as usual, expresses
problems with decision-making, demonstrates increased feelings of anger and impatience, and
reports negative effects from the stress such as physical symptoms or psychological distress.
Thus, stress is depending on the situation of the individual. Stress is stimulates individuals and
groups to use coping responses such as redefining the situation and problem solving (Lazarus &
Folkman, 1984).
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Stress can be related to the stressors that are positive (has being married) and negative
(has being in a complicated relationship). The classic work of Holmes and Rahe (1967), in which
amounts and types of stressors are measured by adding number assigned to stressors, such as
divorce and changing jobs, demonstrated that the numbers and type of stressors that exist in
peoples lives are predictive of future illness, both psychological and physical. Stress is
categorized into two groups that are eustress and distress. Selye (1987) defined stress as the
non-specific response of the body to any demand placed upon it. Distress and eustress were
originally both subsumed within the larger definition of stress but were regarded as different and
distinct from each other (Selye, 1987). Eustress, a term introduced and defined by Selye (1964,
1987), is a good or positive stress that enhances the individual to continue working. This good
stress is useful for everyone to be motivated and enjoyed to finish their works and duties. But if
this good stress cannot be controlled and managed by the individual, the distress will be
occurred. Then, distress is about a bad stress that will bring negative effect to someone.
According to Simmons, Nelson and Neal, (2001), distress is indicated by negative work attitudes
and psychological states such as negative effect, job alienation, and frustration. These two types
of stress can be occurred simultaneously in response to the same demand and are likely to result
from different processes.
2.2
Mental Health
Mental health is an important aspect in humans health. The mental health as the state of
well-being in which every individual realizes his or her own potential, can cope with the normal
stresses of life, can work productively and is able to make a contribution to her or his own
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community (The World Health Organization, 2011). Thus, everyone should have known and
realize their own ability to have a good mental health. Mental health is referred to as
flourishing, a combination of feeling good about and functioning well in life (Corey, Satvinder
& Eduardo, 2010). Corey et al. (2010) also defining languishing mental health is referred to as
not feeling good in facing the life.
Young adults are likely to experience psychiatric scenes and mental illnesses during
university life due to the burdens facing the university students with higher depression (Adetunji
& Oskrochi, 2014; Anderssen & Erin, 2009). Indirectly the depression effects on health and it
also will affect the chosen of foods people select to eat as people tend to eat sweet and flavorful
food when they stress out. Thus, the universitys life is the incubator for the mental health
problems.
2.3 Academic Stress

The one of the greatest health obstacle to university students academic performance was
academic stress (American College Health Association, 2006). Academic stress is a mental stress
with the frustration with failure in academic. Academic stress is a crucial issue among the
students as it is related to mental health problems. Many researchers in the field of behavioral
science have carried out extensive study on stress and its outcomes and concluded the problem
needed more attention (Agolla, 2009).
Academic stress in university have both positive and negative effects if not manage
carefully. The academic stress among students have been long study, and the researcher have
found that stressors as too many assignments, competitions with friends, failures in examination
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and poor relationships with friends and the lecturers (Fairbrother & Warn, 2003). Thus, they
should manage their time management wisely to prevent stress in academic because the student
life in university is totally different cattle of fish compared to high school or primary school.
Zeidner (1992) reported that students having high pressure from course overload and academic
process but least stresses by personal familiar and social factors. According to Clift and Thomas
(1983), the work assignments were a major source of stress to students. A study by Shiroms
(1986) study revealed that the examination is causing high stress and followed by assignment
overload. Thus, these both work assignments overload and examination are the major factors to
students getting academic stress. Please get articles published in recent years too.
2.4 Effect of Stress

Dietary habits are major aspect of peoples lifestyles that influence health for a range of
conditions. Hence, patterns of food consumption and their relation to mental health have
received some attention in research (Christensen & Pettijohn, 2001). Studies on the effects of
stress on food choice show that students experiencing periods of stress reported overrating foods
they would normally avoid, and they ate these foods to feel better (Zellner & Loaiza, 2006).
Archer (2003) indicated that the stress reactions to various situations affect the overall level of a
persons health. On that they felt is always overwhelmed while they eat poorly, sleepless and
overwhelmed with stressful events.
Perlin and Leonard (1989) have suggested that there are two major types of stressors
which are life events and chronic strains. Life events research considers the extent to which the
accumulation of a series of experiences can create stressful impact. Stress from chronic strain
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results in role overload whereby conflicting roles in an individuals life that produce competing,
and potentially conflicting demands over time. Role conflict is a common part of university
experience. University students must learn to balance the competing demands of academics,
developing new social contacts and being responsible for their own daily needs. Besides, while
the academic workload requires that students face a series of peak periods such as midterms and
finals, there is a relatively constant underlying pressure to complete an upcoming assignment.
Although depression is often related to appetite changes, little research has been done to
examine the relationship between healthy eating and depressed mood (Fulkerson & Sherwood,
2004). In fact, until recently, no studies had examined the relationship between depression and
nutritional intake such as among adolescents (Fulkerson & Sherwood, 2004). This has led to
suggestions that future research on nutrition and on the correlation between depression and food
consumption should be conducted across diverse student populations (Lou & Chou, 2007).
University students are particularly important as they have greater freedom and control over their
lifestyles, and health behaviors formed during young adulthood may have sustaining impacts on
health throughout later life (Von & Ebert, 2004). Hence, it is of interest to assess of association
between indicators of mental health such as perceived stress and depressive symptoms and
nutritional habits.
2.5
Eating Disorder
Eating disorders become an importance topic among society since it is negatively impact
on health. Eating disorder also might change eating pattern on a person. Eating pattern can be
define as the way a person or group eats, considered in terms of what types of food are eaten, in
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what quantities, and when they are eating. According to the National Eating Disorder website, it
is estimated that about 20 million women and 10 million men in U.S will have an eating disorder
in their lifetime. (Groner, Kendal, 2015) This statement shows that women have higher risk of
eating disorder than the men. Eating disorders also involve with the amount of nutrition intake in
the body which indirectly impact on body weight or others body system. Its become a big
concern since people tend to get more illness involving with eating disorder including university
students.
Studies shows more than 90% of the eating disorder cases were believed to have occurred
in individuals age 25 or below. (Sanlier, Yabanci & Alyakut, 2008). Cross cultural studies
suggested that Asian university students were equally susceptible or even at higher risk of eating
disorders compared to their Western counterparts. (Jennings, Forbes, McDermott & Hulse,
2006). For instance, prevalence of at risk of eating disorders among young adult was 26.7% in
Philippine (Madanat et al.,2006), 13.3% in India (Tendulkar et al, 2006), 7.4% in Singapore (Ho,
Tai, Lee, Cheng & Liow, 2006) and 5.1% in Japan. (Makino, Hashizume, Yasushi, Tsuboi &
Dennerstein, 2006). These prove that Asian students are at the higher risk of eating disorder.
Therefore, it is important to identify eating behaviors which cause eating disorder among
university students in Malaysia. In Malaysia, the pressure of living apart from home among
university students may increase the risk of suffering from depression, anxiety and stress which
may lead to eating disorder. Moreover, they may also come upon personal, family, social,
financial, and academic pressure (Khor, Cobiac & Skyzypiec, 2002) which have to resolve
without help and guidance from their parents. (Gan, Nasir, Zalilah, & Haziza, 2011).
Additionally, a university environment precipitates high stress and anxiety that may contribute to
eating problems (Sepulveda, Carrobles & Gandarillas, 2008).
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2.6
Curriculum Structure
A curriculum significantly understood as the totality of student experiences that occur in
the educational process (Wiles & Jon, 2008). Curriculum structure is a process involving
professional bodies or organizations, where forceful arguments on a program structure and
content being produce and prepared (Erdil, Bilsel & Ayhan, Jul 2005). Also, curriculum is the
main factor in defining program outcomes. Usually, curriculum consists of modules and courses,
which are linked together in order to produce the specific and chosen learning outcomes for the
students. The objectives of a curriculum structure are to explore the practical and theoretical
principles of curriculum-centered strategic planning and to inspect how the planning and its
implementation are useful in the corresponding teaching structures and student experiences
(Malkki & Paatero, 2015).
The number of courses offered and required to be taken are examples of curriculum
structure that should be fulfilled by students. In addition, the number of credit hours that student
have to take to accomplish their study in university is also part of curriculum structures (Leech,
2015). According to Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary (2010), credit
hour is defined as one unit of academic credit, which representing attendance at one scheduled
period of instruction per week throughout a semester, quarter, or term. Los Angeles Southwest
College describes students are awarded credit for classes on the basis of the Carnegie unit which
defines a semester unit of credit as equal to a minimum of three hours of work per week for a
semester.
A specific requirement such as accomplishment of credit hours influenced the way in
which learners or students conceptualize the notion of doing well, together with their perceived
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reasons which decide their successes and failures. The learners tended to judge their success by
external factors such as teacher approval, marks, or grades, and that the range of attributions
increased with age (Williams & Burden, 2002). The curriculum structure of an organization
influences the worries of student to be able to get enough credits to graduate high school, while
for others it's being able to get a 4.0 GPA and get into Stanford which involved tremendous
amount of stress and pressure (Brown, 2013).
University and college students often include effective time management, social support,
positive reappraisal, and engagement in leisure pursuits in order to reduce academic stress (Blake
& Vandiver, 1988 Kessler, Mattlin & Wethington, 1990). Leisure satisfaction is defined as the
positive feeling of contentment a person perceives in order to meet their personal needs such as
eating ice-cream and snacks (Seigenthaler, 1997).
2.7
Financial
Financial can be defined as the science of money management which related to two
activities on how money is managed and the actual process of acquiring needed funds (Daniel
Kurt, 2015). Financial difficulties are often cited among students as a source of stress (Northern,
OBrien & Goetz, 2010; Ross, Niebling & Heckert, 1999). The negative outcomes of financial
stress: (a) depression (Andrews & Wilding, 2004; Clark- Lempers & Netusil, 1990), (b) anxiety
(Andrews & Wilding, 2004; Harding, 2011), (d) poor health (Northern et al., 2010) and (e)
difficulty persisting towards degree completion (Letkiewicz, in press; Joo, Durband, & Grable,
2008; Robb, Moody & Abdel- Ghany-2011).
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There are different sources of stress including academics, financial, family, social and
daily hassles (Brougham, Zail, Mendoza & Miller, 2009). Research has found that college
women were more likely to financial problem than college men (Brougham et al., 2009).
Newcomb and Rabow (1999) found that college men were more confident and had greater
knowledge in their financial management rather than college women. Being unable to pay bills
and other financial also may cause stress among students, psychological aspects of stress may be
missed when using financial data alone (Northern et al., 2010).
Financial problems among students may have risk of developing eating disorder (Caffola,
2015). According to University of Southampton and Solent NHS Trust in England, female
students who experienced financial issues more likely to develop disordered eating habits.
International Journal of Eating Disorders claimed that greater likelihood of problematic eating
behaviors among women of lower socioeconomic status. In addition, the study also found that
women with extreme attitudes towards food were more likely to experience short-term
financial struggles (May Wilkerson, 2015).
According to Indo Asian News Service (IANS) 2015, the article reported that researcher
has found that having extreme attitudes to food and eating, for example feeling guilty predicted
short- term financial difficulties for female students, suggesting the possibility of a viscous
cycle occurring. The researcher also found that the relationship between socioeconomic status
and eating attitudes also a greater persistence of potentially problematic eating attitudes in
women from less affluent families (Richardson, 2015).
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2.8
Hypotheses of the Research

Our research is undertaken at university or college institution especially for final year
student where high level of stress is characteristic for much of the student body. We set out to
address four key questions;
1) Does health conscious influence eating disorder among university students?
2) Does curricular structure influence academic stress among university students?
3) How does financial problem affect the academic mental stress among university
students?
Hypotheses of Demographic Profile (Independent Variable) towards Mental Stress
(Dependent Variable);
H1.1
There is a positive relationship between health conscious and mental stress.
H1.2
There is a positive relationship between curricular structure and mental stress.
H1.3
There is a positive relationship between financial status and mental stress.

Based on the aforementioned discussion, the following main hypothesis is suggested; If
the academic mental stress of a student is higher or increase, it is predicted that his or her eating
habit will increase as well.
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CHAPTER 3
METHODOLOGY
This chapter is described about the research and methodology used on this research study. The
respondents, the location of the study, source of data, and design of research questionnaire are
also discussed. Besides, the hypothesis testing analysis also been discussed too.
3.1
Research Design
A research design is a master plan which specifies the methods and procedures for
collecting and analyzing the needed information (Babin, Carr, Griffin & Zikmund, 2012). The
purpose of this study is to investigate the factors that affect students academic stress, to what
extent the academic stress affect the students, to identify the relationships between academic
stress of UPMs students and their eating patterns. In this study, descriptive research is used as
the as it is able to reports the summary data such as the measures of central tendency which
includes the mean, median, deviance from mean, variation, percentage, and correlation between
variables (The Association for Educational Communications and Technology, 2001).
Besides that, this research is conducted by using quantitative method as it is able to obtain the
data in fast and inexpensive ways. In addition, quantitative method is easier to execute if
compare to the qualitative research method. In the questionnaires, the type of question used is
close-ended question as it is easy and quick to answer. Zikmund et al. (2012) pointed out that,
close-ended questions are the questions in which respondents are given specific, limitedalternative responses and asked to choose the one closest to their own point of view.
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3.2
Sampling Procedure
3.2.1 Sample
The target respondents of this study involve the final year students both male and female
from all the faculties in University Putra Malaysia (UPM). The sample size of this research is
200 students among the final year students. The respondents were selected from the aged of 21
years old and above. In addition, the primary reason for chosen University Putra Malaysia as the
location is due to the focus of this study is students with academic stress.
3.2.2 Sampling Technique
Convenience sampling techniques are chosen to conduct this research as it is the best
method to gather the basic information in a short period of time and less resources is needed
(Bougie, Roger, Sekaran & Uma, 2009).
3.3
Data Collection
The distribution of the questionnaires was carried out around the UPM area with the
focus to investigate the factors which influenced academic stress and how academic stress affects
the students eating habits. All of the questionnaires were distributed from 16th of November to
23rd of November (one week) which is before Test 2.
The first step in the data collection was to identify the final year students as the focused
respondents were the final year students from all the faculties of in University Putra Malaysia.
Besides that, the respondents were informed that the purpose of the purpose of this study was for
23 | P a g e
academic objective. The numbers of questionnaire distributed to different faculties were not
similar due to the students willingness to take part in this research.
The researchers gave time approximately 10 minutes to the respondents in order for them
to complete the questionnaires. All the questionnaires were collected back just after the students
finished answering the questions to prevent oversight of collection the surveys.
3.4
Questionnaire Design
A self-administered questionnaire was used to collect the data. The simple words were
used to develop the closed ended and structures questionnaire in order to respondent understood
easily what the question being asked. The questionnaire consists of two types of language
version which is English version and Malay version. Therefore, the respondents have choice to
choose language version to answer the questionnaire. The survey questionnaire consisted of 3
sections.
Section A: Demographic information
Section A consisted of seven questions to obtain respondents demographic information.
Questions asked related to the respondents background and profile on gender, age, hometown,
height, weight, faculty, and field of study.
Section B: Measure the levels of depression, anxiety and stress, as well as eating attitude
Section B of the questionnaire asked about the depression, anxiety and stress of the
students. Also, this section asked on the students eating attitude. This section consists of two
different parts. The first part of Section B consists of 21 questions on identify the level of stress
24 | P a g e
which used the Likert scales method (Garner et al. 1982). There are five Likert point used which
1 indicated most disagree, 2 indicated disagree, 3 indicated not sure, 4 indicated agree
and 5 indicated most agree.
For the second part, Attitude scale was being used which 1 indicated always, 2
indicated usually, 3 indicated often, 4 indicated sometimes, 5 indicated rarely, and 6
indicated never. Part 2 was measuring on the eating behaviors of the students (Breakthrough
Behavioral, 2009-2015).
Section C: Measure the independent variables; health conscious, curricular structure and
financial status of students
Section C is consisting of three major part; 1) Health conscious, 2) Curricular structure,
3) Financial status. The first part contains eight questions, the second part contains 10 questions,
and lastly the third part contains 11 questions. The third part of section C consists of two
multiple choice questions and nine Attitude scale based questions. For the Attitude scale used; 1
indicated never, 2 indicated sometimes, 3 indicated often, and 4 indicated very often.
3.5
Pilot Test
According to Cavana, Delahale and Sekaran (2001), a questionnaire should be piloted
with a reasonable sample of respondents who come from target population or who closely
resemble the target population. A total of 20 respondents are chosen for the pilot test randomly in
the faculties of University Putra Malaysia area in order to determine the reliability to measure the
variables for this research before data collection in order to achieve the objectives.
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3.6
Data Analysis
3.6.1 Descriptive Statistic Analysis

Data in this study were analyzed by using descriptive and inferential statistic methods.
Descriptive methods were used to describe behavior of data in general and some inferential
analysis was performed to understand the relationship among variables.
All the premier data in this study were processes by using the Statistical Packages for
Social Science (SPSS) version 22.0 software. Descriptive statistics were used to describe or
understand about demographic profile of respondent. Besides that, the same method was used to
study about dimensions of the variables. This indicates the used of mean and median.
3.6.2 Regression Analysis
Regression analysis is a quantitative research method which is used when the study
involves modelling and analyzing several variables, where the relationship includes a dependent
variable and one or more independent variables. One of the main occasions where such analysis
is used is to understand the relationship between independent variables and a dependent variable.
The basic form of regression models includes unknown parameters (), independent
variables (X), and the dependent variable (Y). Regression model, basically, specifies the relation
of dependent variable (Y) to a function combination of independent variables (X) and unknown
parameters (); Y f (X, )
Regression equation can be used to predict the values of y, if the value of x is given,
and both y and x are the two sets of measures of a sample size of n. The formulae for
regression equation would be as follow; = +
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CHAPTER 4
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
This chapter is mainly about the data analysis and results that has been obtained in this
study. The frequency distribution test and the analysis of regressions are included in this chapter.
4.1
Frequency Distribution of the Respondents Socio-Demographic

The questionnaires were distributed among the final year students in University Putra
Malaysia (UPM). The respondents were given around 10 minutes to answer all the questions and
the data was collected on the same day. There were a total of 160 respondents participated in this
survey which received 100% response rate. The demographic information of these respondents
consists of four different categories that are gender, age, hometown and faculty.
There were total of 49 male respondents with 30.6% and 111 female respondents with
69.4% involved in this study. In this study, age had categorized into three age groups. The age
groups were 22-24 years old, 25-28 years old and 29 years old and above. Most of the
respondents are in the range of 22-24 years old, where the total of 142 respondents, 88.0%
involved. There are 18 respondents, 11.3% with the age range of 25-28 years old. However, there
were no respondents from 29 years old and above, so there were 0% for the age groups with 29
years old and above.
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Table 4.1
Frequency Distribution of the Respondents Socio-Demographic
Variables
Gender
Category
Male
Female
Frequency
49
111
Percentage (%)
30.6
69.4
Age
22-24
25-28
29 above
142
18
0
88.8
11.3
0
Hometown
Johor
Kedah
Kelantan
Kuala Lumpur
Melaka
Negeri Sembilan
Pahang
Penang
Perak
Perlis
Sabah
Sarawak
Selangor
Terengganu
28
13
24
5
2
5
8
8
21
3
7
4
23
9
17.5
8.1
15.0
3.1
1.3
3.1
8
8
21
3
7
4
23
9
Faculty
Environment
Language
Biotech
Ecology
Engineering
Food Technology
Medical
Education
Agriculture
Science Computer
Science
1
29
1
19
10
27
36
5
24
6
2
0.6
18.1
0.6
11.9
6.3
16.9
22.5
3.1
15.0
3.8
2
28 | P a g e
From the demographic information of the respondents, the respondents from Johor were
the highest which is 28 respondents with 17.5% followed by the respondents from Kelantan
which is 24 respondents with 15.0%, followed by the respondents from Selangor which is 23
respondents with 23%. There were 21 respondents from Perak with 21%, followed by the
respondents from Kedah which is 13 respondents with 8.1%. Next, the respondent from
Terengganu is 9 with 9%. The respondents from Pahang and Penang were same which 8
respondents with 8% followed by the respondents from Sabah is 7 respondent with 7%. There
were 5 respondents from Kuala Lumpur with 3.1%. Last but not least, there were 4 respondents
from Sarawak with 4%.
From the data above, majority of the respondents were from Faculty of Medical, where
there were a total of 36 respondents with 22.5% followed by 29 respondents from Faculty of
Language and Communication with 18.1%, followed by 27 respondents from Faculty of Food
Science and Technology with 16.9%, followed by 24 respondents Faculty of Agriculture with
15.0%. There were 19 respondents from Faculty of Ecology with 11.9%, followed by 10
respondents from Faculty of Engineering whereas there were 6 respondents from Faculty of
Science Computer with 3.8%. Next, there were 2 respondents from Faculty of Science with 2%
while the respondents from Faculty of Biotechnology and Faculty of Environments were same
which 1 respondent with 0.6%.
As a summary, in this study, most of the respondents were female. There was a big group
of respondents fall in the aged between 22-24 years old. Most of them were from Johor, Kelantan
and Selangor. Lastly, majority of the respondents were from Faculty of Medical.
29 | P a g e
4.2
Reliability Tests
Table 4.2
Reliability Statistics of Academic Stress, Eating Attitude and Financial Factor
Study Instrument
Number of Items
Cronbachs Alpha
Academic Stress
21
0.920
Eating Attitude
14
0.895
Financial Factor
0.761
Table 4.2 shows the result of actual reliability tests for the survey questionnaires. There
were three instruments that have been undergone the reliability test. All three instruments;
academic stress, eating attitude, and financial factor were reliable. The reliability level for
academic stress, eating attitude, and financial factor were 0.920, 0.895, and 0.761 respectively.
4.3
Analysis of Regression
The purpose of analysis of regression is to test the level of prediction of the independent
variables towards the dependent variables.

4.3.1 The factors that affect students mental stress
This section discussed about the relationship between the factors that affect students
mental stress. There three factor involve in this study for example, health conscious, curricular
structure and financial. All the questions are loaded in Section C which is been asked to the
respondents. For instance, there are eight questions for health conscious part, ten questions in
30 | P a g e
curricular structure part and eleven question for financial part. In addition, the respondents were
asked to choose the best answer for each part. However, in financial part, the respondent was
asked to rank their perception on a Likert scale.
In this study, it had been found the relationship between health conscious, curricular
structure and financial factors that affect students mental stress. Based on the theoretical
explanation from the review and empirical results using Regression, the result showed only
health conscious and curricular structure factor is not significantly predicted by the students
mental stress whereas it significantly predicted towards financial factor. Table shows the result
of the question asked.
4.3.1.1 Health Conscious

Table 4.3
Model Summary of Regression Analysis on Health Conscious
Model
0.102a
R Square
0.010
Adjusted R
Std. Error of the
Square
Estimate
0.004
0.57466
R2= 0.010; meaning that only 1.0% of variance in mental stress was explained by health
conscious.
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Table 4.4
Table of Health Conscious
Model
Unstandardized Coefficients
Standardized
Significant
2.098
0.037
1.284
0.201
Coefficients
B
Std. Error
1 (Constant)
0.576
0.275
Health
0.207
0.161
Beta
0.102
conscious
Note: Std. = Standard
Mental Stress = 0.207 Health Conscious + 0.576
Predictor: t = 1.284, P > 0.001 (not significantly predict)
The health conscious factor has explained 1.0% of variance for the students mental stress
based on Table 4.3. Next, as presented in Table 4.4, the independent variable is health conscious.
The dependent variable for the analysis is mental stress of students. For every one unit increases
in the health conscious (independent variable), the mental stress (dependent variable) will
increases by 0.207. As the P value is 0.201 which was more than 0.001, the mental stress is not
significantly predicted by the health conscious factor.
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4.3.1.2 Curricular Structure

Table 4.5
Model Summary of Regression Analysis on Curricular Structure
Model
R Square
0.158a
Adjusted R
Std. Error of the
Square
Estimate
0.019
0.57037
0.025
R2 = 0.025; meaning that 2.5% of variance in mental stress was influenced by the curricular
structure variable.
Table 4.6
Table of Curricular Structure
Model
Standardized
Significant
0.875
0.383
2.015
0.046
Coefficients
B
Std. Error
1 (Constant)
0.282
0.322
Curricular
0.400
0.199
Beta
0.158
Structure
Mental Stress = 0.400 Curricular Structure + 0.282
Predictor: t = 2.015, P > 0.001 (not significantly predict)
33 | P a g e
Based on Table 4.5, 2.5% of variance in the mental stress of students was predicted by
the curricular structure factor. According to Table 4.6 above, the independent variable is
curricular structure, while the dependent variable is mental stress. Table 4.6 shown that every
one unit increases in curricular structure; the mental stress will increase by 0.400. Curricular
structure is not significantly predicted the students mental stress as the value of P is 0.046 which
is more than 0.001.
4.3.1.3 Financial
Table 4.7
Model Summary of Regression Analysis on Financial
Model
0.414a
R Square
0.171
Adjusted R
Std. Error of the
Square
Estimate
0.166
0.52592
R2 = 0.171; meaning that 17.1% of variance in mental stress was influenced by the financial
factor.
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Table 4.8
Table of Financial
Model
Standardized
Significant
-1.063
0.289
5.711
0.000
Coefficients
B
Std. Error
1 (Constant)
-0.217
0.204
Financial
0.569
0.100
Beta
0.414

Mental Stress = 0.569 Financial Factor 0.217
Predictor: t = 5.711, P < 0.001 (significantly predicted)
There is 17.1% of variance in the students mental stress was explained by financial
factor according to Table 4.7. Then, as shown in Table 4.8 above, the independent variable is
financial factor, and the dependent variable is mental stress. Also, for every one unit increases in
financial factor, mental stress will increase by 0.569 as shown in Table 4.8. The financial is
significantly predicted the students mental stress as the P value was 0.000 which was less than
0.001.
Based on the data analysis of regressions in part 4.2.1a), b) and c), the factor that mostly
affected and influenced the mental stress is basically financial factor as it is significantly
predicted the mental stress of students.
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4.3.2 The relationship between academic mental stress and students eating disorder
Table 4.9
Model Summary of Regression Analysis on Academic Mental Stress
Model
R Square
0.451a
Adjusted R
Std. Error of the
Square
Estimate
0.199
0.88447
0.204
R2 = 0.204; meaning that 20.4% of variance in eating disorder was influenced by the academic
mental stress.
Table 4.10
Table of Academic Mental Stress
Model
Standardized
Significant
38.084
0.000
-6.359
0.000
Coefficients
1 (Constant)
Std. Error
5.046
0.132
-0.775
0.122
Beta
Academic
-0.451
mental stress
Eating Disorder = -0.775 Academic Mental Stress + 5.046
Predictor: t = -6.359, P < 0.001 (significantly predicted)
36 | P a g e
There is 20.4% of variance in the students eating disorder which was explained by the
academic mental stress according to Table 4.9. Then, as shown in Table 4.10 above, the
independent variable is academic mental stress, while the dependent variable is eating disorder.
As shown in Table 4.10, for every unit increases in the academic stress, the eating behavior or
disorder of student will increase by 0.775. Also, the academic stress is significantly predicted the
students eating disorder as the P value is less than 0.001 (0.000).
Therefore, the main hypothesis of this study which is the higher the academic mental
stress of a student, the higher the eating disorder is being proved and accepted.
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CHAPTER 5
CONCLUSION
In this final chapter, major results and findings are discussed from the data showed in
previous chapter. This chapter concludes and summarizes all the findings of the research
according to the research objectives and hypotheses. A part from that, this chapter also discussed
the limitations, recommendations, and the managerial implications of this study.
5.1
Conclusion
Upon conducting this research, new findings were discovered. However, the main
objectives of this research were achieved. Firstly, the research managed to identify relationship
between academic mental stress and student eating disorder. Secondly, the purpose of this study
is to investigate the factors that affect students academic stress. From the analysis conducted to
test the relationship, there is some attributes that show a positive relationship and also show a
negative relationship. Factor that mostly affected and influenced the mental stress is basically
financial factor as it is significantly predicted the mental stress of students whereas health
conscious and curricular structure were not significantly predicted the mental stress of students.
Also, the academic stress affected the eating behavior or eating disorder of students.
Finally, to include it all, future research is still needed to justify and strengthen the
outcomes of this research. There may have been research similar to this topic but the situations in
all the research may be different, including this research. A slight change in this research context
38 | P a g e
could bring about changes in the findings. Therefore, future researches are welcomed to conduct
a similar research as this in the same context.
5.2
Limitations
This study was a small scale study which not consist all of the final year students in
UPM. On this study only a few students from some faculties in University Putra Malaysia
(UPM) are involved. Therefore it does not represent the relationship between mental stress eating
disorder for the entire of final year students in UPM.
There are also a limited number of male respondents. The females respondents are more
than males respondent. So, we cannot compare the relationship of gender with the mental stress.
Therefore, the number of male and female respondents should be balanced.
5.3
Recommendations
There are a number of key challenges to be addressed in the area of body image and
mental health in young people especially for students:
I) Identify and promptly treat young people especially students with emerging eating
disorders
Early treatment gives students the best chance of recovery. A network of services
providing referral, assessment and care is required to provide such early treatment. Additional
39 | P a g e
specialist mental health services are required to ensure there is the capacity to adequately treat
young people before their illnesses become more severe and disability becomes irreversible.
II) Provide accessible or youth oriented services among students in schools
Innovative, youth appropriate methods of delivery of treatment or health promotion

among students should be investigated. For example, computer-based education or treatment
programmers using e-mail have been used successfully for mental health problems such as
bulimia or depression. Use of these types of innovative treatments would make them accessible
outside traditional mental health services and available in schools. This may increase the
likelihood of help seeking and accessing of treatment by a group of patients which is difficult to
engage with because of the nature of the illness and the age group.
III) Research new treatments
The relationship between body image disturbance and eating disorder pathology should
be researched in order to better identify risk factors and understand how these influence the
development of eating disorders at a later date. Research into innovative interventions for eating
disorders would enable care to be provided at the earliest possible opportunity, and reduce the
likelihood of ongoing chronic illness and poorer outcomes in a group of patients where mortality
and morbidity are already high.
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5.4
Managerial Implication
This research was conducted to study the relationship between academic mental stress
and eating disorder among university students in Malaysia. The main reason of chosen this topic
is as students, it is importance to know the factors that might affect the successfulness in
university.
This study might provide some theoretical implication on the reader. The reader might
know the importance of this topic because it contributes the new knowledge on how academic
mental stress could influence students eating pattern which can caused eating disorder. Besides
that, this study will provide the information and knowledge on the factor that affecting academic
stress and potential change of eating pattern among university students.
On top of that, this study also will be comparing the change of eating pattern influence by
academic stress between gender which is male and female. This study also might increase
awareness among university students on how importance to handle academic stress efficiently in
order to survive until the end of graduation day. Last but not least, this study might be useful to
the reader by giving some information and another source of reference for future study.
In addition, there are also managerial implications of this study. The management of
university might know the factors influencing students mental stress and help to reduce its by
providing more efficient and systematic management. Then, parents and lecturers also might
become helpful in reducing mental stress among students when knowing the factor affects
mental stress by giving extra support to them in term of financial and curricular structure.
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44 | P a g e
APPENDICES
45 | P a g e

STUDY ON THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN MENTAL STRESS AND EATING
BEHAVIOR AMONG UPMS STUDENTS.
INTRODUCTION
As students taking FSM 4101 Research Method in Food Service, we are required to conduct a survey on
mental stress and eating behaviour among UPMs final year student. All the results gathered from this
questionnaire will be used solely for academic purposes. The questionnaire in which you are
about to participate in is for our class research project. The estimated time to complete this
questionnaire will be approximately 6-7 minutes. Please take the time to read and answer each
question carefully and honestly. By completing and returning the questionnaire you are hereby
giving full consent to use this data in this research project.
Sebagai pelajar yang mengambil FSM 4101 - Kaedah Penyelidikan dalam Perkhidmatan
Makanan, kami perlu menjalankan kajian mengenai tekanan mental dan tingkah laku makan di
kalangan pelajar tahun akhir UPM. Semua keputusan yang didapati daripada soal selidik ini
akan digunakan semata-mata untuk tujuan akademik. Soal selidik di mana anda adalah kira-kira
untuk mengambil bahagian dalam adalah untuk projek utama kami di FSM 4101. Masa yang
dianggarkan untuk melengkapkan soal selidik ini akan lebih kurang 6-7 minit. Sila luangkan
masa untuk membaca dan menjawab setiap soalan dengan teliti dan jujur. Dengan
melengkapkan dan mengembalikan soal selidik yang anda dengan ini memberikan kebenaran
penuh untuk menggunakan data ini dalam projek penyelidikan ini.
46 | P a g e
SECTION A
First of all, please tell us a little bit about yourself./ Pertama sekali, sila beritahu kami sedikit tentang diri anda.
INSTRUCTION: Please complete the following questions/ ARAHAN: Sila selesaikan soalan berikut.
1.
Gender/Jantina
Male/lelaki
2.
Female/Perempuan (
25-28
Age /Umur
22-24
3.
Weight/Berat
4.
Height /Tinggi
5.
Hometown/Asal
6.
Faculty/Fakulti
7.
Field of study/Bidang belajar
29 above/29 keatas (
SECTION B
Next, we would like to measure your levels of depression, anxiety and stress, as well as your eating attitude.
Seterusnya, kami ingin mengukur tahap anda kemurungan, kebimbangan dan tekanan, serta sikap makan anda.
Part 1: Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale Test/ Ujian Kemurungan, Kebimbangan dan Tekanan.
INSTRUCTION: Please read each statement and select a number 0, 1, 2 or 3 that indicates how much the statement applied
to you over the past week. There are no right or wrong answers. Do not spend too much time on any statement, but please
answer each question.
ARAHAN: Sila baca setiap kenyataan dan memilih nombor 0, 1, 2 atau 3 yang menunjukkan berapa banyak kenyataan yang
dipohon kepada anda lebih seminggu yang lalu. Tidak ada jawapan yang betul atau salah. Tidak menghabiskan terlalu banyak
masa di mana-mana pernyataan, tetapi sila jawab setiap soalan.
Rating Scale/ skala undi
0: Did not apply to me at all/ Tidak diaplikasikan kepada saya pada semua
1: Applied to me to some degree, or some of the time/ Berkaitan dengan saya ke tahap yang tertentu, atau sebahagian masa
2: Applied to me to considerable degree, or a good part of time/ Berkaitan dengan saya tahap yang besar, atau sebahagian
dari masa ke masa.
3: Applied to me very much, or most of the time/ Berkaitan bagi saya sangat banyak, atau kebanyakan masa
47 | P a g e
1.
I found it hard to wind down

Saya dapati diri saya sukar ditenteramkan
2.
I was aware of dryness of my mouth

Saya sedar mulut saya terasa kering
3.
I couldn't seem to experience any positive feeling at all

Saya tidak dapat mengalami perasaan positif sama sekali
4.
I experienced breathing difficulty (e.g., excessively rapid breathing,

Breathlessness in the absence of physical exertion)
Saya mengalami kesukaran bernafas (contohnya pernafasan
yang laju, tercungap-cungap walaupun tidak melakukan senaman fizikal.
5.
I found it difficult to work up the initiative to do things

Saya sukar untuk mendapatkan semangat bagi melakukan sesuatu perkara
6.
I tended to over-react to situations

Saya cenderung untuk bertindak keterlaluan dalam sesuatu keadaan
7.
I experienced trembling (e.g., in the hands)

Saya rasa menggeletar (contohnya pada tangan)
8.
I felt that I was using a lot of nervous energy

Saya rasa saya menggunakan banyak tenaga dalam keadaan cemas
9.
I was worried about situations in which I might panic and make a fool of myself
Saya bimbang keadaan di mana saya mungkin menjadi panik dan melakukan perkara
yang membodohkan diri sendiri
10. I felt that I had nothing to look forward to

Saya rasa saya tidak mempunyai apa-apa untuk diharapkan
11. I found myself getting agitated

Saya dapati diri saya semakin gelisah
12. I found it difficult to relax

Saya rasa sukar untuk relaks
13. I felt down-hearted and blue

Saya rasa sedih dan murung
14. I was intolerant of anything that kept me from getting on with what I was doing
Saya tidak dapat menahan sabar dengan perkara yang menghalang saya meneruskan
apa yang saya lakukan
15. I felt I was close to panic

Saya rasa hampir-hampir menjadi panik/cemas
16. I was unable to become enthusiastic about anything

Saya tidak bersemangat dengan apa jua yang saya lakukan.
17. I felt I wasn't worth much as a person

Saya tidak begitu berharga sebagai seorang individu
18. I felt that I was rather touchy

Saya rasa yang saya mudah tersentuh
19. I was aware of the action of my heart in the absence of physical exertion
(e.g., sense of heart rate increase, heart missing a beat)
Saya sedar tindakbalas jantung saya walaupun tidak melakukan aktiviti fizikal
(contohnya kadar denyutan jantung bertambah, atau denyutan jantung berkurangan)
20. I felt scared without any good reason

Saya berasa takut tanpa sebab yang munasabah
21. I felt that life was meaningless

Saya rasa hidup ini tidak bermakna
48 | P a g e
Part 2: Eating Attitude Test/ Ujian Sikap Pemakanan
INSTRUCTIONS: This is a screening measure to determine the eating attitude of the respondents. Please fill out the form
below as accurately, honestly and completely as possible.. Please read the statement and tick ( / ) in the blank below.
ARAHAN: Soalan ini adalah pemeriksaan untuk mengukur dan mengenalpasti sikap pemakanan responden. Sila isi jawapan untuk
soalan-soalan di bawah dengan tepat, jujur, dan lengkap.. Sila baca kenyataan itu dan tandakan (/) tempat kosong di bawah.
The numbers are represent/ Nombor-nombor ini mewakili:

1-
Always, 2- Usually, 3- Often, 4- Sometimes, 5- Rarely, 6- Never
1- Selalu, 2- Kebiasaannya, 3- Kerap, 4- Kadang-kadang, 5- Jarang, 6- Tidak Pernah
1
1
I am terrified about being overweight.

Saya sangat takut berat badan berlebihan
I avoid eating when I am hungry.

Saya elak makan ketika lapar.
I cut my food into small pieces.

Saya potong makanan saya kecil-kecil.
I aware of the calorie content of foods that I eat.

Saya sangat peka tentang kalori dalam makanan saya.
I particularly avoid food with high carbohydrate content (i.e. bread, rice, etc.)
Saya mengelak makanan mengandungi karbohidrat yang tinggi (roti, nasi, etc)
I vomit after I have eaten.

Saya muntah selepas makan.
I feel extremely guilty after eating.

Saya rasa sangat bersalah selepas makan.
I think about burning up calories when I exercise.

Saya berfikir untuk membakar kalori selepas ketika melakukan senaman.
I am preoccupied with the thought of having fat on my body.

Saya asyik berfikiran tubuh saya mengandungi lemak.
10
I avoid foods with sugar in them.

Saya mengelak makanan yang ada gula.
11
I eat diet foods.

Saya makan makanan diet.
12
I feel that food controls my life.

Saya rasa makanan kawal hidup saya.
13
I feel uncomfortable after eating sweets.

Saya rasa tidak selesaa selepas makan gula-gula.
14
I engage in dieting behavior.

Saya sedang berdiet.
15
I enjoy trying new rich foods.

Saya sangat suka mencuba makanan yang baru.
49 | P a g e
SECTION C
Finally, we would like to know your levels of health conscious, curricular structure, and financial status. Akhir sekali, kami
ingin tahu tahap anda mementingkan kesihatan, struktur kurikulum, dan status kewangan.
Part 1: Health Conscious/ Kesihatan Sedar
INSTRUCTION: Please tick () the response that best describes your health conscious for each of the following questions.
ARAHAN: Sila tandakan() untuk menunjukkan huraian yang paling tepat mengenai kesihatan sedar untuk setiap soalan berikut..
1.
How often do you exercises in a month?

Berapa kali anda bersenam dalam sebulan?
2.
1-2 times per week/1-2 kali seminggu
3- 4 times per week/3- 4 kali seminggu
Not exercise at all/ Tidak bersenam
Eating/ Makan
Sleeping/ Tidur
Hang out with friends/ Keluar bersama rakan
1-2 times per day/ 1-2 kali sehari
3-4 times per day/3-4 kali sehari
Above 5 times per day/ Lebih dari 5 kali sehari
What type of method do you prefer to release stress?

Apakah kaedah yang anda pilih untuk menghilangkan tekanan?
3.
What is frequency of your food intake during normal day?

Apakah kekerapan pengambilan makanan anda pada hari biasa?
4.
Does frequency of your food intake change when you stress?

Adakah kekerapan pengambilan makanan anda berubah apabila anda tertekan?
Yes/Ya
5.
No/Tidak
What type of food do you prefer during stress?

Apakah jenis makanan yang anda pilih apabila anda mengalami tekanan?
6.
Junk food/ Makanan ringan
Heavy food/ Makanan berat
Dairy products/) Produk tenusu
Fruits/ Buah-buahan
What are the changes of your bodyweight during first year until final year of study?
Apakah perubahan berat badan anda pada tahun pertama sehingga tahun akhir pengajian?
7.
Lose weight/ Berat badan berkurang
Gain weight / Berat badan bertambah
Maintain/ Tiada perubahan
When you stress, what is your favorite place to eat-out?

Apabila anda tertekan, apakah tempat kegemaran yang anda pilih apabila makan diluar?
8.
Fast food/ Makanan segera
Casual dining Restaurant/ Restoran kasual
Fine dining restaurant / Restoran mewah
Are you a smoker?

Adakah anda seorang perokok?
Yes/Ya
No/Tidak
50 | P a g e
Part 2: Curricular structure/ Struktur Kurikulum

INSTRUCTION: Please tick () the response that best describes your curricular structure for each of the following
questions.
ARAHAN: Sila tandakan() untuk menunjukkan huraian yang paling tepat mengenai struktur kurikulum anda untuk setiap soalan
berikut..
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
How many subjects are you taking for this semester?

Berapa banyak mata pelajaran anda mengambil untuk semester ini?
Four / Empat
Five/ Lima
More than six/ Lebih daripada enam
(
(
(
)
)
)
Have you finished taking the compulsory co-curriculum subject?

Adakah anda selesai mengambil wajib subjek kokurikulum
Yes/Ya
(
)
No/Tidak
(
How many credit hours do you register for this semester?

Berapa jam kredit anda mendaftar untuk semester ini
12 hours and below/ 12 jam dan ke bawah.
13 18 hours/ 13-18 jam
More than 18 hours/ lebih 18 jam
(
(
(
)
)
)
(
(
(
(
)
)
)
)
(
(
(
)
)
)
How do you learn best?

Bagaimana anda belajar dengan lebih baik?
Listening in class / Mendengar dalam Kelas
Viewing information provided in class/
Melihat maklumat yang diberikan di dalam kelas
Watching demonstrations /Menonton demonstrasi
Sharing/Berkongsi
Participating in discussions/ Terlibat dalam perbincangan
How many assignments have you received for this semester?
Tugasan Berapa banyak anda diterima untuk semester ini
Low /Sedikit
Moderate /Sederhana
Many/ Banyak
6.
Are there any assignments that require you to travel to places outside of UPM?
Adakah terdapat apa-apa tugasan yang memerlukan anda untuk pergi ke tempat-tempat di luar UPM
Yes/Ya
(
)
No/Tidak
(
)
7.
Do you have to make a formal presentation for each of your assignment in this semester?
Adakah anda perlu membuat pembentangan rasmi bagi setiap tugasan semester ini?
Yes/Ya
(
)
No/Tidak
(
)
8.
Do presentations influence your stress level?

Adakah persembahan mempengaruhi tahap tekanan anda
Yes/Ya
(
)
No/Tidak
9.
Is there any extra-curricular activity that you participated in this semester? If YES please proceed question 10 or
if NO just ignore it.
Adakah terdapat apa-apa aktiviti ko-kurikulum yang mengambil bahagian semester ini. Jika YA sila teruskan soalan 10
atau jika TIDAK abaikan sahaja.
Yes/Ya
(
)
No/Tidak
(
)
10. How do the extra-curricular activities affect your stress level?

Bagaimanakah aktiviti kurikulum mempengaruhi tahap tekanan anda
Stress level increase/ Peningkatan tahap tekanan
Stress level decrease/ Penurunan tahap tekanan
(
(
)
)
51 | P a g e
Part 3: Financial Status/ Status Kewangan

INSTRUCTION: Please tick () the response that best describes about your financial status for each of the following
questions. ARAHAN: Sila tandakan() untuk menunjukkan huraian yang paling tepat mengenai status kewangan anda untuk setiap
soalan berikut.
1.
2.
What is your parental income per month?

Berapakah gaji ibu bapa anda sebulan?
Less than RM1000/Kurang daripada RM1000
RM1500-RM2500
RM2500-RM3500
More than RM4000/Lebih daripada RM4000
(
(
(
(
)
)
)
)
What are your financial resources in this semester?

Apakah sumber kewangan anda semester ini?
PTPTN/ PTPTN
Scholarship/ Biasiswa
Others/Lain-lain
(
(
(
)
)
)
Based on the experience at UPM, about how often have you done each of the following? berapa kerapkah anda mengalami
keadaan berikut?Berdasarkan pengalaman anda di institusi,
Response option: 1-Never, 2-Sometimes, 3-Often, 4- Very Often
Pilihan jawapan: 1- Tidak pernah, 2- Kadang-kadang, 3- Kerap, 4- Sangat Kerap
No
1
3
4
Statement
Kenyataan
I worried about having enough money for regular expenses
Saya risau sekiranya saya tidak mempunyai wang yang cukup untuk kegunaan
harian.
I worried about paying accommodation, transportation and college cost
Saya risau untuk membayar kos penginapan, pengangkutan dan kolej
I choose not to participate in an activity due to lack of money

Saya memilih untuk tidak menyertai sebarang aktiviti kerana kekurangan wang.
I choose not to purchase require academic materials (books, stationary)
Saya memilih untuk tidak membeli keperluan bahan akademik (buku, peralatan
tulis)
I have to do part time job to pay for costs
Saya terpaksa membuat kerja sambilan untuk membayar kos
I always have to borrow some money from my friends

Saya selalu meminjam wang dari kawan-kawan
I regularly spend more than I have by using savings or borrowing

Saya selalu membelanjakan lebih dari kemampuan dengan menggunakan
simpanan atau meminjam
I pay my bills on time every month

Saya membayar bil setiap bulan tepat pada masanya
I feel stressed about my personal finances in general

Saya rasa tertekan tentang kewangan peribadi secara umumnya
Thank you for your time and effort in completing this survey form.
-The End-
52 | P a g e
SPSS Output
1. Frequency Tables for Socio-Demographic
a) Gender
Gender
Frequency
Valid
male
Percent
Cumulative
Percent
Valid Percent
49
30.6
30.6
30.6
female
111
69.4
69.4
100.0
Total
160
100.0
100.0
b) Age
Age
Frequency
Valid
Percent
Valid Percent
Cumulative
Percent
22-24
142
88.8
88.8
88.8
25-28
18
11.3
11.3
100.0
Total
160
100.0
100.0
c) Hometown
Hometown
Frequency
Valid
Percent
Valid Percent
Cumulative
Percent
JOHOR
28
17.5
17.5
17.5
KEDAH
13
8.1
8.1
25.6
KELANTAN
24
15.0
15.0
40.6
KUALA LUMPUR
3.1
3.1
43.8
MELAKA
1.3
1.3
45.0
NEGERI SEMBILAN
3.1
3.1
48.1
PAHANG
5.0
5.0
53.1
PENANG
5.0
5.0
58.1
PERAK
21
13.1
13.1
71.3
PERLIS
1.9
1.9
73.1
SABAH
4.4
4.4
77.5
SARAWAK
2.5
2.5
80.0
SELANGOR
23
14.4
14.4
94.4
5.6
5.6
100.0
160
100.0
100.0
TERENGGANU
Total
53 | P a g e
d) Faculty
Faculty
Frequency
Valid
ALAM SEKITAR
Percent
Valid Percent
Cumulative
Percent
.6
.6
.6
BAHASA
29
18.1
18.1
18.8
BIOTECH
.6
.6
19.4
ECOLOGY
19
11.9
11.9
31.3
ENGINE
10
6.3
6.3
37.5
FOOD
27
16.9
16.9
54.4
MEDICAL
36
22.5
22.5
76.9
PENDIDIKAN
3.1
3.1
80.0
PERTANIAN
24
15.0
15.0
95.0
SC.COMP
3.8
3.8
98.8
SCIENCE
1.3
1.3
100.0
160
100.0
100.0
Total
2. Frequency Pie Charts of Socio-Demographic

a) Gender
54 | P a g e
b) Age
c) Hometown
55 | P a g e
d) Faculty
3. Reliability Statistic Tests

a) Academic Stress
Reliability Statistics
Cronbach's
Alpha
N of Items
.920
21
b) Eating Attitude
Cronbach's
Alpha
N of Items
.895
14
c) Financial Factor
Cronbach's
Alpha
N of Items
.761
56 | P a g e
4. Regression Analysis
a) Health Conscious
Model Summary
Model
.102
R Square
Adjusted R
Square
Std. Error of the

Estimate
.010
.004
.57466
a. Predictors: (Constant), Health_conscious
Coefficients
Model
1
Std. Error
(Constant)
.576
.275
Health_conscious
.207
.161
Standardized
Coefficients
Beta
.102
Sig.
2.098
.037
1.284
.201
a. Dependent Variable: Mental_Stress
b) Curricular Structure
Model Summary
Model
.158
R Square
Adjusted R
Square
Std. Error of the

Estimate
.025
.019
.57037
a. Predictors: (Constant), Curricular_structure
Coefficients
Model
1
(Constant)
Curricular_structure
Std. Error
.282
.322
.400
.199
Standardized
Coefficients
Beta
.158
Sig.
.875
.383
2.015
.046
57 | P a g e
c) Financial Factor
Model Summary
Model
.414
R Square
Adjusted R
Square
Std. Error of the

Estimate
.171
.166
.52592
a. Predictors: (Constant), Financial
Coefficients
Standardized
Coefficients
Model
1
Std. Error
(Constant)
-.217
.204
Financial
.569
.100
Beta
.414
Sig.
-1.063
.289
5.711
.000
d) Academic Mental Stress
Model Summary
Model
.451
R Square
Adjusted R
Square
Std. Error of the

Estimate
.204
.199
.88447
a. Predictors: (Constant), Mental_Stress
Coefficients
Model
1
(Constant)
Mental_Stress
Std. Error
5.046
.132
-.775
.122
Standardized
Coefficients
Beta
-.451
Sig.
38.084
.000
-6.359
.000
a. Dependent Variable: eating_disorder
58 | P a g e

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FSM4101: RESEARCH METHODS IN FOODSERVICE

UNIVERSITY PUTRA MALAYSIA

RESEARCH METHODS IN FOODSERVICE

THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN MENTAL STRESS AND EATIONG DISORDER: A

NURUL AMIRAH BT SUHAIMI

NUR IZZATIEY FARAHIN SYAMIMI BINTI ZAKI

NURRANI AMIERA BINTI MOHD RADZI

NABILAH BINTI ABD MAJID

NORLINA BINTI MOHD RAZALI

LECTURERS NAME: DR CHUA BEE LIA

FSM4101: RESEARCH METHODS IN FOODSERVICE

THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN MENTAL STRESS AND EATING BEHAVIOR AMONG

NABILAH BINTI ABD MAJID

FACULTY OF FOOD SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

FSM4101: RESEARCH METHODS IN FOODSERVICE

FSM4101: RESEARCH METHODS IN FOODSERVICE

FSM4101: RESEARCH METHODS IN FOODSERVICE

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

Frequency Distribution of the Respondents SocioDemographic

FSM4101: RESEARCH METHODS IN FOODSERVICE

Background of the Research

in academic challenges. The high expectation in academic achievement and overload of

FSM4101: RESEARCH METHODS IN FOODSERVICE

FSM4101: RESEARCH METHODS IN FOODSERVICE

FSM4101: RESEARCH METHODS IN FOODSERVICE

FSM4101: RESEARCH METHODS IN FOODSERVICE

FSM4101: RESEARCH METHODS IN FOODSERVICE

The specific objectives of the research are listed as below:

To investigate the factors that affect students academic stress

FSM4101: RESEARCH METHODS IN FOODSERVICE

FSM4101: RESEARCH METHODS IN FOODSERVICE

FSM4101: RESEARCH METHODS IN FOODSERVICE

2.3 Academic Stress

FSM4101: RESEARCH METHODS IN FOODSERVICE

2.4 Effect of Stress

FSM4101: RESEARCH METHODS IN FOODSERVICE

FSM4101: RESEARCH METHODS IN FOODSERVICE

FSM4101: RESEARCH METHODS IN FOODSERVICE

FSM4101: RESEARCH METHODS IN FOODSERVICE

FSM4101: RESEARCH METHODS IN FOODSERVICE

FSM4101: RESEARCH METHODS IN FOODSERVICE

Hypotheses of the Research

There is a positive relationship between health conscious and mental stress.

There is a positive relationship between curricular structure and mental stress.

There is a positive relationship between financial status and mental stress.

FSM4101: RESEARCH METHODS IN FOODSERVICE

FSM4101: RESEARCH METHODS IN FOODSERVICE

FSM4101: RESEARCH METHODS IN FOODSERVICE

FSM4101: RESEARCH METHODS IN FOODSERVICE

FSM4101: RESEARCH METHODS IN FOODSERVICE

3.6.1 Descriptive Statistic Analysis

FSM4101: RESEARCH METHODS IN FOODSERVICE

Frequency Distribution of the Respondents Socio-Demographic

FSM4101: RESEARCH METHODS IN FOODSERVICE

FSM4101: RESEARCH METHODS IN FOODSERVICE

FSM4101: RESEARCH METHODS IN FOODSERVICE

variables towards the dependent variables.

FSM4101: RESEARCH METHODS IN FOODSERVICE

4.3.1.1 Health Conscious

Std. Error of the

FSM4101: RESEARCH METHODS IN FOODSERVICE

FSM4101: RESEARCH METHODS IN FOODSERVICE

4.3.1.2 Curricular Structure

Std. Error of the