Psychological Stress Management in Dental Education
Summary
Dental education combines rigorous academic study with intensive clinical practice, creating a high-pressure environment for students. The demands of acquiring complex manual skills, meeting clinical requirements and adapting to patient care responsibilities can precipitate elevated levels of psychological stress. Unaddressed stress not only undermines academic performance but also jeopardises long-term professional resilience and patient safety. Contemporary approaches to stress management in this field emphasise proactive screening, integration of resilience training into curricula and the cultivation of supportive learning cultures. Techniques range from mindfulness and cognitive-behavioural workshops to peer mentoring and structured reflection sessions. By embedding these interventions early in training, institutions seek to foster adaptive coping strategies, enhance emotional regulation and promote wellbeing across the global cohort of dental students.
Research from Nature Portfolio
Recent longitudinal research across two European universities has tracked self-reported levels of stress, anxiety and depression among dental undergraduates over key academic milestones. Utilising the DASS-21 scale, the study revealed significant fluctuations in symptom severity tied to examination cycles and socio-demographic factors, with higher scores observed in female students and those without prior degrees. The findings underscore the critical window at the onset of clinical training for targeted prevention, advocating structured stress-management modules and tailored support services to mitigate psychological distress before it impairs learning outcomes.
Psychological Stress Management in Dental Education publication trend
The graph below shows the total number of articles in psychological stress management in dental education across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).
Technical terms
DASS-21: A 21-item self-report instrument assessing the severity of depression, anxiety and stress symptoms.
Dental Environment Stress (DES) questionnaire: A tool for measuring sources and levels of stress specific to dental academic and clinical contexts.
General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12): A 12-item screening instrument to detect non-psychotic psychiatric disorders and overall psychological distress.
Perceived Stress Scale (PSS): A widely used psychological instrument measuring the perception of stress over the past month.
References
- Insights into self-evaluated stress, anxiety, and depression among dental students. Scientific Reports (2024).
- Stress and its association with academic performance among dental undergraduate students in Fujian, China: a cross-sectional online questionnaire survey. BMC Medical Education (2020).
- Meta-Analysis of Prevalence of Depression in Dental Students during COVID-19 Pandemic. Medicina (2021).
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