Perceived stress and coping strategies among undergraduate dental students - an institutional-based study.

Background: Coping strategies are highly mediated by the environment, in particular when the person deals with the obstacles and impediments to fulfill their goals. This study aimed to investigate the Perceived Stress and Coping Strategies among Undergraduate Dental Students of Panineeya Institute of Dental Sciences Hyderabad, India.

Materials And Methods: A cross-sectional study was carried out among 267 undergraduate dental students. The survey tool comprised of Perceived Stress Scale (PSS) and Brief COPE Scale along with demographic variables. Statistical analysis was done using SPSS 20.0.

Results: Based on gender, females had high PSS mean scores (23.8±7.3) than males and to overwhelm these stress levels most of the students followed adaptive coping strategies (40.4±7.8) with no significant difference. But, significant difference noted for maladaptive coping dimension "denial" (p=0.004). On comparison between year of study, higher perceived stress was noted among second year students (26.7± 5.8), and least among first years (21.6±7). In order to defeat the stressors most of the second year undergraduate students used adaptive coping strategies. However, highest mean adaptive coping scores were noted among first years (41.6±7.5) and least scores observed among fourth years (38.6±9.2). However, total PSS score showed significant positive correlation (p<0.001) with maladaptive coping strategies.

Conclusion: Females and second year students perceived more stress levels, to overtake those stressors most of them followed adaptive coping strategies. Hence, institutional authorities should take measures to decrease the stress levels and encourage the students to adopt healthy life style such as meditation and exercise to beat their stressors.