Students in graduate school experience stress associated with a fear of failure. Heightened stress responses typically occur in situations where students are required to absorb a vast quantity of information in a limited time. Student reports of stress induced anxiety and depression are further exacerbated by an inability to satisfy basic social, recreational, family and financial needs. Outdoor experiential training (OET) activities as a component of student development initiatives have been designed to assist students with the stress caused by the demands of college. The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of a one-day OET experience on graduate students' perceptions of stress. Using a quasi-experimental design, the results of this study indicated that several mood states, including anxiety-tension, vigor-activity, and depression-dejection, were significantly reduced by a one-day OET experience.
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