Perceived stress in occupational therapy students

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine perceived stress of entry-level master's occupational therapy (OT) students enrolled at a Texas university. A total of 29 students including nine men and 20 women participated in the study. Questionnaires and interviews were used for data collection. The participants were interviewed during the end of the first and second year of the entry-level master's programme in OT. Questionnaires, given at the same time, contained demographic data, open-end questions and force choice questions rated on a Likert scale. The results indicated that the majority of students (66.4%) rated their current level of stress as above average or the highest in their lives. The students expressed feelings of being overwhelmed, confused regarding course expectations and wanted more hands-on experience. When responding to how they managed stress, more than half of the students in the study took an active approach by utilizing exercise. Limitations of the study include using a non-standardized questionnaire, a small number of participants, and that the participants did not represent diversity and were for the most part Hispanic. It is recommended that future research address the cultural and generational issues that may affect perceptions of stress and how students cope with stress.

OT student's experiences of stress and coping

“…The most common academic related stressors in this study included tests and examinations, time management and the demands of each level of study (Figure 2). These findings are supported by other studies 8,9 in which the vastness of the academic curriculum and frequency of examinations were amongst the highest experienced stressors as well as stress related to time management 14 . Academic stress also appeared to be reported by a greater percentage of students in higher levels of study (i.e.…”

“…86.9% of the students utilised self-blame when faced with a stressful situation. In a student's life, this may be due to poor time management and procrastination, having not prepared adequately for tests and examinations as well as conflict with supervisors and peers 13,14 . 66.7% of the students keep to themselves when dealing with stressful situations, for example keeping feelings to themselves, avoiding being with people in general or keeping others from knowing how bad things are.…”

“…In a student's life, support through family and friends may be the most desired. Pfeifer and colleagues 14 in their study done on OT students found that many students utilised friend and family support systems as a coping strategy and Lo 1 in a study on nursing students indicated that the students coped better through social support.…”

“…Personal stressors experienced by students are well documented 1,2,7,8,9,10,11,12 and include physical problems or impairments, family difficulties, financial difficulties, access to resources, social issues, managing relationships and transitioning through adolescence to adulthood. Academic stressors experienced by students include high academic expectations, rigorous class schedules, integration of classroom and clinical learning, tests and examinations, the amount of class work and poor grades, time management, clinical fieldwork, relationships with supervisors, amongst others 8,13,14,15,16 . University related stressors included adjustment to university life, access to resources e.g.…”

Un service d’aide aux étudiants offert par des enseignants experts : la réussite de l’étudiant au cœur des préoccupations

“…En outre, des taux de dépression et d'anxiété de l'ordre de 25 % à 56 % ont été rapportés chez des étudiants américains et canadiens inscrits au programme de doctorat en médecine, surpassant les taux habituellement observés dans la population générale [5] . Des niveaux de stress et de détresse émo-tionnelle significatifs ont aussi été rapportés chez des étudiants de physiothérapie, de sciences infirmières, de pharmacie et ce, tant au niveau du baccalauréat (licence dans certains pays francophones) qu'à des niveaux supérieurs [4,7,8] . La situation est d'autant plus préoccupante que ces étudiants n'ont générale-ment pas tendance à rechercher de l'aide lorsqu'ils en ont besoin [12] , certains percevant la demande d'aide comme un signe de faiblesse ou craignant plutôt de compromettre leur vie professionnelle [5,9] .…”