Identification of stressors and quantification of stress among veterinary students in India using a cross-sectional questionnaire survey

Abstract

As an intensive professional training program veterinary education presents high academic and non-academic stressors to students. Identifying the stressors responsible and measuring the stress among veterinary students can prove useful to design any coping strategies to safeguard the mental health of students. The study aimed to identify the responsible stressors, measure the level of stress caused by each kind of stressor, the relation of stress with variables such as gender and family income. For this, 44 items based cross-sectional questionnaire survey was designed and distributed among veterinary students of India. On statistical analysis, the questionnaire yielded high internal consistency. More than 95% of students were found to be under stress. Maximum students reported the highest stress due to academic-related stressors. Female students reported high overall stress, academic stress, and intrapersonal and interpersonal-related stress than male students. Students with lower family incomes experienced more overall stress as well as family responsibilities-related stress. Gender, family income, academic stressors, intrapersonal, interpersonal, and conflict-related stressors, and social activities-related stressors positively predicted the overall stress among the students and thus these factors should be given special emphasis while designing any stress combating or reducing measures for veterinary students of India.