Table 3 Mean dental environmental stress (DES) questionnaire scores and comparison among debt load and debt interest payment
From: Perceived causes of stress among a group of western Canadian dental students
Category | Stressor | DES by debt load | Sig. level | DES by debt interest payment | Sig. level | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
≤ $100,000 | > $100,000 | $0–500 | > $500 | ||||
Mean (SD) | Mean (SD) | Mean (SD) | Mean (SD) | ||||
Social-related stress | Living away from home | 1.34 (1.32) | 0.67 (0.95) | 0.008* | 0.90 (1.14) | 1.00 (1.19) | 0.722 |
Accommodations not being conducive for studying | 1.77 (1.55) | 1.81 (1.62) | 0.973 | 1.81 (1.60) | 1.71 (1.54) | 0.880 | |
Difficulty in making friends | 0.65 (0.85) | 0.60 (0.93) | 0.654 | 0.64 (0.94) | 0.53 (0.64) | 0.947 | |
Romantic relationships | 1.82 (1.53) | 1.51 (1.42) | 0.310 | 1.68 (1.45) | 1.43 (1.55) | 0.460 | |
Lack of time for relaxation | 3.45 (1.31) | 3.38 (1.36) | 0.863 | 3.39 (1.35) | 3.53 (1.25) | 0.763 | |
Lack of holiday time compared to other students | 2.76 (1.34) | 2.87 (1.44) | 0.745 | 2.75 (1.40) | 3.20 (1.37) | 0.291 | |
Social demands-family | 1.17 (1.01) | 1.73 (1.48) | 0.119 | 1.32 (1.14) | 2.33 (1.80) | 0.043* | |
Social demands-friends | 1.54 (1.12) | 1.73 (1.25) | 0.608 | 1.55 (1.12) | 2.13 (1.46) | 0.117 | |
Personal physical health | 1.92 (1.67) | 2.02 (1.62) | 0.728 | 1.84 (1.61) | 2.67 (1.59) | 0.058 | |
Physical health of others-significant other/family | 1.19 (1.26) | 1.83 (1.47) | 0.047* | 1.41 (1.39) | 2.00 (1.36) | 0.099 | |
Financial-related stress | Financial responsibilities-living expenses | 1.68 (1.32) | 2.77 (1.48) | 0.001* | 2.17 (1.50) | 3.13 (1.30) | 0.013* |
Financial responsibilities-disposable income | 1.68 (1.53) | 2.55 (1.54) | 0.014* | 1.98 (1.57) | 3.07 (1.39) | 0.011* | |
Financial responsibilities-tuition costs | 3.00 (1.47) | 3.52 (1.43) | 0.097 | 3.24 (1.47) | 3.60 (1.45) | 0.360 | |
Financial responsibilities-transportation | 1.51 (1.28) | 1.73 (1.27) | 0.363 | 1.47 (1.15) | 2.40 (1.55) | 0.024* | |
Financial responsibilities-size of current debt load | 2.47 (1.78) | 3.77 (1.23) | 0.001* | 3.07 (1.62) | 4.13 (1.12) | 0.015* | |
Financial responsibilities-size of future debt load | 2.76 (1.81) | 3.75 (1.33) | 0.011* | 3.20 (1.63) | 4.13 (1.25) | 0.030* | |
Financial responsibilities-interest payments on debt | 2.18 (1.59) | 3.25 (1.49) | 0.004* | 2.59 (1.60) | 3.93 (1.16) | 0.030* | |
Clinical-related stress | Concern about manual dexterity and clinical skills | 1.82 (1.27) | 1.58 (1.49) | 0.226 | 1.79 (1.44) | 1.19 (1.11) | 0.135 |
Transition from pre-clinical to clinical studies | 2.49 (1.50) | 2.42 (1.42) | 0.880 | 2.52 (1.41) | 2.13 (1.59) | 0.227 | |
Completing clinical requirements | 2.68 (1.25) | 2.98 (1.60) | 0.294 | 2.89 (1.38) | 2.75 (1.84) | 0.811 | |
Clinical grading | 2.23 (1.19) | 2.44 (1.46) | 0.573 | 2.31 (1.26) | 2.56 (1.75) | 0.665 | |
Differences in opinions of clinical faculty and staff regarding clinical decision-making and treatment | 2.82 (1.45) | 2.94 (1.38) | 0.800 | 2.91 (1.40) | 2.81 (1.42) | 0.859 | |
Supply of patients | 2.96 (1.45) | 2.80 (1.50) | 0.662 | 2.90 (1.40) | 2.73 (1.79) | 0.797 | |
Patient communication and management | 2.79 (1.52) | 1.98 (1.36) | 0.022* | 2.34 (1.48) | 2.00 (1.41) | 0.401 | |
Confidence in own clinical decision-making | 2.00 (1.34) | 1.64 (0.98) | 0.286 | 1.82 (1.16) | 1.60 (1.06) | 0.757 | |
Adequacy of clinical supervision | 2.00 (1.49) | 2.08 (1.33) | 0.703 | 2.11 (1.38) | 1.80 (1.42) | 0.367 | |
Patients attending scheduled appointments | 2.68 (1.72) | 2.50 (1.56) | 0.609 | 2.61 (1.64) | 2.40 (1.55) | 0.661 | |
Occupational/health hazards | 1.57 (1.52) | 1.32 (1.28) | 0.616 | 1.50 (1.41) | 1.06 (1.18) | 0.246 | |
Academic-related stress | Conducive teaching environment | 2.08 (1.34) | 2.48 (1.39) | 0.173 | 2.30 (1.42) | 2.40 (1.18) | 0.563 |
Criticism of academic and/or clinical work | 2.92 (1.40) | 2.66 (1.38) | 0.399 | 2.84 (1.41) | 2.38 (1.19) | 0.267 | |
Approachability of faculty/staff | 1.87 (1.38) | 2.37 (1.49) | 0.148 | 2.12 (1.47) | 2.31 (1.45) | 0.604 | |
Communication with faculty/staff | 1.95 (1.45) | 2.50 (1.36) | 0.089 | 2.27 (1.45) | 2.25 (1.29) | 0.952 | |
Rules/regulations of College | 2.16 (1.46) | 2.94 (1.66) | 0.031* | 2.58 (1.58) | 2.75 (1.84) | 0.796 | |
Expectation versus reality of dental school | 2.95 (1.47) | 3.50 (1.49) | 0.070 | 3.22 (1.48) | 3.50 (1.59) | 0.430 | |
Amount of course work | 3.34 (1.12) | 3.25 (1.44) | 0.964 | 3.32 (1.23) | 3.13 (1.67) | 0.855 | |
Difficulty of course work | 2.87 (1.23) | 2.53 (1.39) | 0.276 | 2.68 (1.29) | 2.63 (1.59) | 0.957 | |
Time available for learning | 3.53 (1.25) | 3.17 (1.35) | 0.219 | 3.43 (1.25) | 2.81 (1.51) | 0.136 | |
Fear of not being able to catch up if falling behind in course work | 3.16 (1.40) | 2.94 (1.49) | 0.536 | 3.11 (1.38) | 2.69 (1.74) | 0.421 | |
Fear of failing a course or year | 3.79 (1.28) | 3.58 (1.65) | 0.898 | 3.74 (1.45) | 3.31 (1.70) | 0.285 | |
Competition for grades | 2.00 (1.49) | 1.94 (1.67) | 0.786 | 1.95 (1.58) | 2.06 (1.69) | 0.809 | |
Uncertainty about future dental career | 1.76 (1.38) | 2.14 (1.49) | 0.250 | 1.92 (1.41) | 2.25 (1.65) | 0.475 | |
Examinations | 2.95 (1.35) | 3.12 (1.44) | 0.494 | 3.11 (1.35) | 2.75 (1.61) | 0.453 | |
Lack of input into dental college decision-making | 2.00 (1.45) | 2.85 (1.64) | 0.016* | 2.51 (1.63) | 2.44 (1.55) | 0.957 | |
Clinical time allotted in curriculum | 2.36 (1.19) | 2.18 (1.41) | 0.448 | 2.18 (1.28) | 2.60 (1.50) | 0.302 | |
The language of teaching | 1.00 (1.09) | 1.08 (1.15) | 0.761 | 0.97 (1.14) | 1.38 (1.02) | 0.097 | |
Knowledge transfer of information, methods and materials | 1.59 (1.17) | 1.67 (1.26) | 0.850 | 1.60 (1.19) | 1.81 (1.38) | 0.616 | |
The amount of material | 2.82 (1.25) | 2.18 (1.09) | 0.161 | 2.64 (1.36) | 2.44 (1.71) | 0.479 | |
The difficulty of material | 2.18 (1.09) | 1.81 (1.27) | 0.071 | 1.93 (1.13) | 2.13 (1.54) | 0.842 | |
Reference and information resources | 1.56 (1.34) | 1.20 (1.02) | 0.247 | 1.32 (1.19) | 1.44 (1.09) | 0.563 | |