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Abstract

Academic stress has become a significant concern among university students, potentially impacting their mental well-being and academic performance. While study habits are theorized to serve as protective factors, the mediating mechanisms through which they influence the stress-wellbeing relationship remain unclear. This study investigated the mediating role of study habits in the relationship between academic stress and mental well-being among university students. A cross-sectional study was conducted with 258 university students from various academic disciplines. Participants completed standardized measures including the Academic Stress Scale, Study Habits Inventory Scale, Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Well-being Scale. Mediation analyses were performed using PROCESS macro for SPSS, examining both overall study habits and specific components (time management, note-taking strategies, concentration and focus, reading comprehension, and exam preparation) as potential mediators. Academic stress showed a significant positive correlation with study habits while mental well-being demonstrated weak, non-significant correlations with both academic stress and study habits Simple mediation analysis revealed that overall study habits did not significantly mediate the academic stress-mental well-being relationship. In the multiple mediation model, only reading comprehension emerged as a significant mediator while other study habit components showed non-significant indirect effects.