Perceived Stress and Its Association with Body Fat Percentage among Academic and Administrative Employees in Universiti Teknologi MARA Pahang
Abstract
Stress has been identified as a risk factor for high blood pressure, cardiovascular disease, and cancer. Recent research has suggested that body composition is essential in determining health and disease. However, the influence of stress on body composition among higher institutional staff remains to be determined. This study aimed to compare perceived stress and body fat percentage levels between two categorical groups. Furthermore, this study investigated the correlation between stress and body composition among academicians and administrators in Universiti Teknologi MARA Pahang, Malaysia. One hundred and forty (N=140) participants were involved in this study. They were divided into two categorical groups, which were referred to as "academicians" and "administrators." A demographic profile, the Perceived Stress Scale-10, and body fat percentage were obtained to assess the stress level and participants' body composition. Independent t-test results suggested that academicians more stressed than the administrators. In terms of body fat percentage, neither group demonstrated a statistically significant difference in results. Additionally, pairwise correlation demonstrated a statistically significant positive relationship between fat percentage and stress level (p < 0.05, r = 0.235). Tracking body composition and perceived stress can provide valuable insights into the health and well-being of higher education staff. This is to facilitate the implementation and facilitation of future initiatives involving the staff and act as an aid to regulate their performance aim.
Copyright (c) 2025 Gading Journal for the Social Sciences (e-ISSN 2600-7568)
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:
1. Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.
2. Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.
3. Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work.
