environmental and perceived stress in australian dental undergraduates: preliminary outcomes

Background. dental students have reported a high prevalence of psychological stress and the causes are associated with the challenging dental environmental and demographic factors. this study aimed to conduct a preliminary investigation on dental students’ stress status, using a sample of firsttothirdyear bachelor of dental surgery students in an australian university. special interests included causes of dental environmental stress and access to help services. methods. a sample of 145 students was surveyed with a modified dental environmental survey and depression anxiety stress scale in 2014. the participants’ demographic information was also collected. results. the response rate was 95.4%. secondyear (p = 0.042), thirdyear (p <0.001) and employed students (p = 0.027) were more likely to report stress resulting from transition to clinical learning. thirdyear students were more often stressed about communicating and approaching staff (p = 0.023) as well as different opinions between staff (p < 0.001) and reduced holidays (p< 0.001). students that were younger than 21 years of age (p = 0.001), that were first years (p <0.001), and that were not in a relationship (p = 0.010) more often found difficulty of course work stressful. students who were not in a relationship more often considered learning manual dexterity a source of stress (p = 0.034). students previously seeking professional help were more likely to be stressed (p = 0.010). conclusion. causes of dental environment stress varied among years of study and demographic backgrounds. professional support to stressed students should be enhanced. further investigation is indicated.