Factors Influencing First-Year Medical Students' Perceptions of Stress

Abstract

This preliminary report from an ongoing longitudinal study of students at both Tufts and Harvard medical schools examined the relationship between premedical school demographic and stress variables and the numbers and types of stresses reported by students in open-ended interviews conducted during their first year of medical school. Analyses showed that the general categories of "medical school stresses" and "social stresses related to medical school" accounted for about two-thirds of the total number of stresses mentioned. The overall distributions of stresses across general categories were remarkably similar in all student groups studied, although significant differences were found between students from different background groups on a number of the specific types of stress. No significant differences were found between groups as to those reporting a high total number of stresses. There did appear to be differences in the degree to which students felt affected by the stresses they reported, suggesting the need for additional data on the meanings of different stresses for different students and the ways in which they cope with them.

Influences of Distress and Alcohol Consumption on the Development of a Delayed-Type Hypersensitivity Skin Test Response

“…icant levels of distress, presumably associated with factors such as daily hassles (23) and perhaps as a consequence of personality characteristics (24,25). These data indicate that not only experimentally manipulated stressors, but also everyday hassles and events are associated with variations in immune responses.…”

Depression, anxiety, and perceived hassles among entering medical students

“…Previous studies of stress among medical students have examined the types of stress experienced while in medical school or changes in stress levels shortly after the onset of medical school compared with a point later in the curriculum; however, only a few have explored student characteristics or have studied the types of stress before the onset of the medical student curriculum (Murphy, Nadelson, & Notman, 1984). Researchers have seldom focused any attention upon demographic differences, such as gender, marital status, and ethnicity.…”

Stress, coping and health: enhancing well-being during medical school

“…A number of studies have been conducted on the perceived stressors, problems and concerns of medical students (e.g. Coburn & Joviasas 1975; Edwards & Zimet 1976; Bjorksten et al 1983; Lloyd & Gartrell 1983; Heins et al 1984; Levin & Franklin 1984; Linn & Zeppa 1984; Murphy et al 1984; Vitaliano et al 1984; Firth 1986; Rosenthal et al 1986; Carmel & Bernstein 1987; Wolf et al 1987, 1988). Common themes can be identified from these studies, although they were conducted over a 15‐year interval with students from different years at different schools and from different cultures (e.g.…”