Causes of Stress and Coping Strategies Adopted by Undergraduate Health Professions Students in a University in the United Arab Emirates

Objectives: this study aimed to compare causes of stress and coping strategies adopted by a sample of undergraduate health-profession students at the gulf medical university, united arab emirates. methods: an anonymous voluntary questionnaire-based survey was conducted, from january to july 2011, among first- and second-year medicine, dentistry, pharmacy and physiotherapy students (n = 212) to identify causes of stress. coping strategies were studied using the brief cope inventory. results: worries regarding the future (54.2%) and parental expectations (40.1%) were the major stressors. poor diet (36.8%) and a lack of exercise (36.3%) were also reported to cause stress. students used multiple strategies, mainly religion/praying (74.5%), planning (70.5%) and taking action (70.5%) to cope with stress. there were no significant differences observed in the stressors or coping strategies between genders or programmes. first-year students (62.5%) relied on emotional support significantly more (p <0.05) than second-year students (48.5%). conclusion: the main causes of stress were worries regarding future and parental expectations. the majority of the students used positive coping strategies, with religion/ praying found to be the most frequently used strategy.