Depressive symptomatology and perception of academic stressors in physiotherapy students

Abstract

High levels of stress and depression among students in health sciences are of substantial university and health systems interest. The aim of this study is to analyze the relationship between the depressive symptomatology and the appraisal of the academic environment as stressful. For this, a study involving 485 physiotherapy students of several Spanish universities was designed. Using the depression subescale of the Symptom Check List-90-Revised and the stressors scale of Academic Stress Questionnaire (ECEA), depressive symtoms and physiotherapy student perceptions of academic stress were measured. The results suggest that students who perceive the academic environment in more threatening terms show a higher index of depressive symptomatology. This relationship seems to be more relevant for the highly stressed group, and specifically for those conditions related to performance beliefs, negative social climate, exams and academic overload. These findings emphasize the importance of identifying physiotherapy students with a higher risk of developing depressive symptoms during their training.