Edorium Journal of Psychology Vol. 3, 2017. Edorium J Psychol 2017;3:10–18. www.edoriumjournalofpsychology.com Gerensea et al. 10 CASE REPORT OPEN ACCESS Prevalence and factors associated with adjustment problems among first year students in St. Paul’s Hospital Millennium Medical College, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia Hadgu Gerensea, Almaz Seid, Girma Lemma, Patricia Malloy ABSTRACT Aims: For many new college students attending a university/college for the first time can be a stressful experience. This study focused on assessing the prevalence and factors associated with an adjustment problem among first year students attending St. Paul’s Hospital Millennium Medical College, Addis Ababa Ethiopia. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted with first year students using an adapted and validated, through a pilot study, version of the Students Adaptation to College Questionnaire (SACQ). A total of 108 participants were selected through simple random sampling from a pool of 150 students. Analysis, included descriptive statistics, independent simple t-test, and a one way ANOVA, was completed on the sample (n = 98). Results: The SACQ tool divides adjustment into four subscales of adjustment, social, personal-emotional, and institutional adjustment. Among the sample of first year students attending Millennium Medical College (n = 98), there was a statistically significant difference between males and females in Hadgu Gerensea 1 , Almaz Seid 2 , Girma Lemma 3 , Patricia Malloy 4 Affiliations: 1 School of Nursing, Axum University, Axum, Ethiopia; 2 Tikur Anbessa Specialized Hospital, Addis Aba- ba, Ethiopia; 3 School of education and behavioral studies, Addis Ababa University, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia; 4 College of Nursing, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon Sas- katchewan. Corresponding Author: Almaz Seid, Tikur Anbessa Special- ized Hospital, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, Email: almaz2015@ gmail.com Received: 08 November 2016 Accepted: 24 March 2017 Published: 24 April 2017 the subscales of academic adjustment and institutional attachment adjustment. There was no statistical significant difference between males and females for overall adjustment, and subscales of social and personal-emotional adjustment. Conclusion: Adjusting to college classes, associated work load, managing study time, and new living arrangements (dormitory) were the major associated factors for students’ experiencing an adjustment problem. Enhancing the quality of student services, increasing the availability of resources and services for students, strengthening campus counseling center, and increasing positive staff- student interaction will assist in mitigating an adjustment problem. As well, this study needs to be replicated in different geographical locations with different student populations to seek generalizability of the tool. Keywords: Adjustment problem, First year students, Prevalence How to cite this article Gerensea H, Seid A, Lemma G, Malloy P. Prevalence and factors associated with adjustment problems among first year students in St. Paul’s Hospital Millennium Medical College, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Edorium J Psychol 2017;3:10–17. Article ID: 100011P13HG2017 ********* doi:10.5348/P13-2017-11-OA-2 EDITORIAL OPEN ACCESS ORIGINAL ARTICLE PEER REVIEWED | OPEN ACCESS