Stressors, psychological well-being, and overall health amongst students from public and private dental schools

Abstract

Aim: This study aimed to correlate stressors with psychological well-being and health factors in dental students from public and private schools. Methods: From February to May 2015, three different instruments (Dental Environment Stress – DES – Psychological General Well-Being – PGWB – and SF-36 Health Survey) were applied to students from two public and two private dental schools from the State of Ceará, Brazil. Mann-Whitney test or t test for independent samples were used in order to compare the stressors between private and public dental schools students. Correlations to each DES domain were performed using Kendall’s Tau C test. Results: A total of 92 (45.32%) and 111 (56.68%) students from public and private schools, respectively, answered the questionnaire. Students from public schools demonstrated significantly higher scores in DES/academic performance and DES/personal and institutional factors (p<0.05). Significant negative correlations were detected between PGWB/anxiety and PGWB/general with all DES domains for both public and private schools (p<0.05). Additionally, DES/academic performance was significantly correlated with several SF-36 domains, such as physical function, vitality, and social functioning, to both public and private schools (p<0.05). However, DES/academic performance and SF-36/role physical was only significantly correlated in private school students (r=-0.171, p=0.039), while SF-36/bodily pain (r=-0.274, p<0.001), general health (r=-0.245, p=0.001), and mental health (r=-0.286, p<0.001) were significantly correlated with DES/academic performance only in public school students. Conclusion: Students from public and private dental schools presented different stressor patterns. Additionally, most of DES domains were significantly associated with PGWB and SF-36 to both public and private schools.

Estrés académico en estudiantes de odontología: asociación con apoyo social, pensamiento positivo y bienestar psicológico

“…Esto último podría poner en riesgo la adecuada relación odontólogo-paciente y minar la calidad de la atención para este último 39 . Consistente con estudios previos 7,23 se detectó una correlación negativa entre estrés académico y bienestar psicológico, pero solo en mujeres. Este último dato es novedoso en la literatura y resalta la importancia de análisis diferenciados por sexo, al estudiar la asociación entre variables.…”

“…Primera, el tamaño de la muestra y su carácter no aleatorio compromete la generalidad de los resultados, por lo que las interpretaciones aquí elaboradas deben ser tomadas con cautela. Si bien, la consistencia con estudios previos ofrece un grado de certeza para los resultados obtenidos, futuros estudios deberán emplear muestras representativas e incluir estudiantes de escuelas públicas y privadas 8,23 , a fin de elevar su generalidad. Segunda, este estudio carece de un grupo control que permita realizar comparaciones de las variables evaluadas y detectar semejanzas o diferencias entre poblaciones distintas como lo sería la población general o de estudiantes de otras carreras.…”

“…En estudiantes de odontología el apoyo social es un predictor del nivel de estrés académico 20 . El pensamiento positivo se asocia positivamente con la autoeficacia, que es un factor protector del estrés 21 , mientras que este último se asocia negativamente con el bienestar psicológico 7,16,23 .…”

Fontes de estresse, bem-estar psicológico e saúde entre estudantes de Odontologia: uma comparação entre fases pré-clínica e clínica e entre os sexos

“…Para as variáveis categóricas, o teste de qui-quadrado foi utilizado. A confiabilidade dos três instrumentos foi previamente avaliada pelo coeficiente alfa de Cronbach 19 .…”

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“…8,9 When left unattended these may potentially transpire in burnout and suicide in some severe situations. 10 Stress in dental students had been identified using different stress scales, including, "Dental Environment Stress Scale" (DES), 11 "Maslach Burnout Inventory" (MBI), 12 and "Psychosocial Stress Inventory" (PSSI). 13 Among these, DES is commonly utilized.…”