Table 2 Mean dental environmental stress (DES) questionnaire scores and comparison among gender and marital status
From: Perceived causes of stress among a group of western Canadian dental students
Category | Stressor | DES by gender | Sig. level | DES by marital status | Sig. level | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Male | Female | Other | Married/common-law | ||||
Mean (SD) | Mean (SD) | Mean (SD) | Mean (SD) | ||||
Social-related stress | Living away from home | 0.78 (1.01) | 1.13 (1.29) | 0.216 | 0.92 (1.08) | 0.92 (1.26) | 0.781 |
Accommodations not being conducive for studying | 1.65 (1.52) | 1.94 (1.68) | 0.451 | 1.70 (1.55) | 1.92 (1.69) | 0.633 | |
Difficulty in making friends | 0.56 (0.92) | 0.70 (0.84) | 0.236 | 0.63 (0.87) | 0.62 (0.94) | 0.906 | |
Romantic relationships | 1.80 (1.56) | 1.42 (1.31) | 0.261 | 2.14 (1.46) | 0.61 (0.74) | < 0.001* | |
Lack of time for relaxation | 3.33 (1.31) | 3.53 (1.36) | 0.471 | 3.35 (1.34) | 3.55 (1.30) | 0.533 | |
Lack of holiday time compared to other students | 2.51 (1.42) | 3.25 (1.26) | 0.015* | 2.68 (1.43) | 3.17 (1.26) | 0.127 | |
Social demands-family | 1.21 (1.16) | 1.84 (1.44) | 0.036* | 1.30 (1.26) | 1.86 (1.38) | 0.055 | |
Social demands-friends | 1.48 (1.15) | 1.87 (1.22) | 0.158 | 1.68 (1.20) | 1.59 (1.18) | 0.677 | |
Personal physical health | 1.74 (1.35) | 2.25 (1.89) | 0.311 | 2.11 (1.61) | 1.66 (1.63) | 0.160 | |
Physical health of others-significant other/family | 1.20 (1.11) | 1.91 (1.65) | 0.084 | 1.53 (1.40) | 1.46 (1.43) | 0.793 | |
Financial-related stress | Financial responsibilities-living expenses | 2.20 (1.41) | 2.50 (1.61) | 0.449 | 2.12 (1.47) | 2.79 (1.47) | 0.055 |
Financial responsibilities-disposable income | 2.10 (1.56) | 2.29 (1.62) | 0.652 | 2.02 (1.58) | 2.52 (1.55) | 0.165 | |
Financial responsibilities-tuition costs | 3.12 (1.45) | 3.51 (1.47) | 0.178 | 3.06 (1.52) | 3.79 (1.20) | 0.035* | |
Financial responsibilities-transportation | 1.54 (1.27) | 1.71 (1.29) | 0.535 | 1.53 (1.18) | 1.81 (1.47) | 0.510 | |
Financial responsibilities-size of current debt load | 3.15 (1.58) | 3.33 (1.64) | 0.515 | 2.97 (1.64) | 3.79 (1.40) | 0.025* | |
Financial responsibilities-size of future debt load | 3.23 (1.59) | 3.51 (1.60) | 0.345 | 3.14 (1.64) | 3.82 (1.39) | 0.063 | |
Financial responsibilities-interest payments on debt | 2.70 (1.56) | 2.95 (1.68) | 0.511 | 2.58 (1.60) | 3.29 (1.56) | 0.068 | |
Clinical-related stress | Concern about manual dexterity and clinical skills | 1.52 (1.39) | 1.90 (1.37) | 0.138 | 1.84 (1.46) | 1.37 (1.19) | 0.152 |
Transition from pre-clinical to clinical studies | 2.20 (1.37) | 2.76 (1.50) | 0.072 | 2.37 (1.44) | 2.57 (1.48) | 0.475 | |
Completing clinical requirements | 2.53 (1.53) | 3.22 (1.33) | 0.059 | 2.75 (1.44) | 3.04 (1.56) | 0.386 | |
Clinical grading | 2.20 (1.36) | 2.57 (1.33) | 0.151 | 2.40 (1.31) | 2.29 (1.46) | 0.834 | |
Differences in opinions of clinical faculty and staff regarding clinical decision-making and treatment | 2.71 (1.43) | 3.11 (1.33) | 0.222 | 2.88 (1.28) | 2.89 (1.62) | 0.877 | |
Supply of patients | 2.56 (1.45) | 3.21 (1.45) | 0.061 | 2.85 (1.46) | 2.88 (1.53) | 0.851 | |
Patient communication and management | 2.17 (1.39) | 2.40 (1.56) | 0.521 | 2.20 (1.38) | 2.41 (1.62) | 0.681 | |
Confidence in own clinical decision-making | 1.73 (1.19) | 1.81 (1.06) | 0.608 | 1.77 (1.12) | 1.75 (1.17) | 0.807 | |
Adequacy of clinical supervision | 1.84 (1.46) | 2.29 (1.25) | 0.065 | 2.00 (1.37) | 2.11 (1.42) | 0.661 | |
Patients attending scheduled appointments | 2.15 (1.46) | 3.06 (1.67) | 0.018* | 2.57 (1.64) | 2.56 (1.60) | 0.973 | |
Occupational/health hazards | 1.25 (1.24) | 1.59 (1.50) | 0.360 | 1.42 (1.35) | 1.39 (1.42) | 0.820 | |
Academic-related stress | Conducive teaching environment | 2.12 (1.29) | 2.56 (1.45) | 0.169 | 2.13 (1.35) | 2.69 (1.36) | 0.098 |
Criticism of academic and/or clinical work | 2.59 (1.34) | 3.00 (1.41) | 0.185 | 2.89 (1.38) | 2.54 (1.37) | 0.230 | |
Approachability of faculty/staff | 2.02 (1.39) | 2.35 (1.53) | 0.360 | 2.10 (1.50) | 2.30 (1.37) | 0.405 | |
Communication with faculty/staff | 2.04 (1.37) | 2.55 (1.43) | 0.087 | 2.17 (1.49) | 2.47 (1.25) | 0.273 | |
Rules/regulations of College | 2.69 (1.59) | 2.53 (1.65) | 0.616 | 2.70 (1.59) | 2.43 (1.65) | 0.447 | |
Expectation versus reality of dental school | 3.08 (1.67) | 3.55 (1.22) | 0.248 | 3.16 (1.55) | 3.53 (1.38) | 0.299 | |
Amount of course work | 3.06 (1.38) | 3.58 (1.15) | 0.060 | 3.26 (1.27) | 3.33 (1.40) | 0.592 | |
Difficulty of course work | 2.50 (1.38) | 2.90 (1.24) | 0.167 | 2.55 (1.28) | 2.93 (1.41) | 0.146 | |
Time available for learning | 3.19 (1.44) | 3.48 (1.11) | 0.412 | 3.29 (1.28) | 3.37 (1.38) | 0.716 | |
Fear of not being able to catch up if falling behind in course work | 2.80 (1.47) | 3.33 (1.37) | 0.100 | 3.00 (1.39) | 3.10 (1.56) | 0.659 | |
Fear of failing a course or year | 3.57 (1.49) | 3.83 (1.52) | 0.248 | 3.62 (1.52) | 3.80 (1.47) | 0.581 | |
Competition for grades | 2.00 (1.53) | 1.90 (1.67) | 0.650 | 2.06 (1.50) | 1.72 (1.75) | 0.206 | |
Uncertainty about future dental career | 1.86 (1.61) | 2.21 (1.28) | 0.173 | 1.87 (1.41) | 2.31 (1.61) | 0.240 | |
Examinations | 2.71 (1.37) | 3.50 (1.30) | 0.008* | 2.95 (1.34) | 3.28 (1.51) | 0.247 | |
Lack of input into dental college decision-making | 2.22 (1.50) | 2.82 (1.70) | 0.084 | 2.33 (1.50) | 2.77 (1.79) | 0.237 | |
Clinical time allotted in curriculum | 2.26 (1.36) | 2.21 (1.30) | 0.821 | 2.18 (1.25) | 2.36 (1.47) | 0.701 | |
The language of teaching | 1.02 (1.06) | 1.05 (1.21) | 0.909 | 1.10 (1.15) | 0.89 (1.05) | 0.450 | |
Knowledge transfer of information, methods and materials | 1.63 (1.23) | 1.64 (1.20) | 0.943 | 1.67 (1.31) | 1.55 (0.98) | 0.947 | |
The amount of material | 2.38 (1.46) | 2.88 (1.32) | 0.108 | 2.68 (1.40) | 2.43 (1.45) | 0.397 | |
The difficulty of material | 1.83 (1.11) | 2.15 (1.29) | 0.288 | 1.95 (1.21) | 2.00 (1.20) | 0.819 | |
Reference and information resources | 1.28 (1.16) | 1.39 (1.20) | 0.619 | 1.32 (1.20) | 1.36 (1.13) | 0.729 | |