Abstract This study examined the mediating role of dispositional optimism on the relationship between academic stressors and reactions to stressors among male and female students. A sample consisting of 300 students (112 males, 188 females) were administrated the Student-Life Stress Inventory (SLSI) and the Life Orientation Test-Revised (LOT-R). Structural equation modeling was used to assess the mediating effects of optimism on the relationship between academic stressors and reactions to stressors among male and female students. In the global model, results indicated that there was a significant positive correlation between academic stressors with reactions to stressors, a significant negative correlation between academic stressors with optimism and a significant negative correlation between optimism with reactions to stressors. In the global model, results also indicated that the relationship between academic stressors and reactions to stressors was mediated by optimism. The results of the sexual specificity of structural relations showed that structural relations were equal for both sexes. All regression weights in the global model were statistically significant and model' predictors accounted for 80 of the variance in reactions to stressors. These findings show that in both sexes when individuals encounter academic stressors, the difference in reactions to stressors may be accounted for by the difference in the degree of optimism.

Keywords: academic stress, optimism, mental health

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