The impact of perceived social support and coping on distress in a sample of Atlantic Canadian health professional students during COVID-19 compared to pre-COVID peers
Abstract Purpose Students pursuing higher education and health professional (HP) programs (e.g., nursing, pharmacy, social work, medicine) experience stressors including academic pressures, workload, developing professional competencies, professional socialization, the hidden curriculum, entering cl...
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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BMC
2023-06-01
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| Series: | BMC Psychology |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1186/s40359-023-01218-y |
| _version_ | 1797811209835118592 |
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| author | Pamela Button Laura Fallon Ken Fowler |
| author_facet | Pamela Button Laura Fallon Ken Fowler |
| author_sort | Pamela Button |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Purpose Students pursuing higher education and health professional (HP) programs (e.g., nursing, pharmacy, social work, medicine) experience stressors including academic pressures, workload, developing professional competencies, professional socialization, the hidden curriculum, entering clinical practice and navigating relationships with colleagues. Such stress can have detrimental effects on HP students physical and psychological functioning and can adversely affect patient care. This study examined the role of perceived social support and resilience in predicting distress of Atlantic Canadian HP students during the COVID-19 pandemic and compared the findings to a pre-COVID population of age and sex matched Canadians. Method Second year HP students (N = 93) completed a survey assessing distress, perceived social support, and resilience and open-ended questions on student awareness of supports and counselling available to them, their use/barriers to the services, and the impact of COVID-19 on their personal functioning. HP student responses were also compared with age and sex matched Canadian peers from data collected prior to COVID-19. Results It was found that HP students reported moderate to severe psychological distress, and while they reported high levels of social support on a measure of perceived social support they also reported that the COVID-19 pandemic made them feel isolated and that they lacked social support. It was found that the sample of HP students reported significantly higher psychological distress than the mean scores of the age and sex matched sample of Canadian peers. Conclusions These findings call for creation of more tailored interventions and supports for HP students. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-13T07:20:15Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-8995258f6fa8439388f3f77d6ab4847b |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2050-7283 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-13T07:20:15Z |
| publishDate | 2023-06-01 |
| publisher | BMC |
| record_format | Article |
| series | BMC Psychology |
| spelling | doaj.art-8995258f6fa8439388f3f77d6ab4847b2023-06-04T11:42:18ZengBMCBMC Psychology2050-72832023-06-0111111010.1186/s40359-023-01218-yThe impact of perceived social support and coping on distress in a sample of Atlantic Canadian health professional students during COVID-19 compared to pre-COVID peersPamela Button0Laura Fallon1Ken Fowler2Student Wellness and Counselling Centre, Memorial University of NewfoundlandDepartment of Psychology, Memorial University, Memorial University of NewfoundlandStudent Wellness and Counselling Centre, Memorial University of NewfoundlandAbstract Purpose Students pursuing higher education and health professional (HP) programs (e.g., nursing, pharmacy, social work, medicine) experience stressors including academic pressures, workload, developing professional competencies, professional socialization, the hidden curriculum, entering clinical practice and navigating relationships with colleagues. Such stress can have detrimental effects on HP students physical and psychological functioning and can adversely affect patient care. This study examined the role of perceived social support and resilience in predicting distress of Atlantic Canadian HP students during the COVID-19 pandemic and compared the findings to a pre-COVID population of age and sex matched Canadians. Method Second year HP students (N = 93) completed a survey assessing distress, perceived social support, and resilience and open-ended questions on student awareness of supports and counselling available to them, their use/barriers to the services, and the impact of COVID-19 on their personal functioning. HP student responses were also compared with age and sex matched Canadian peers from data collected prior to COVID-19. Results It was found that HP students reported moderate to severe psychological distress, and while they reported high levels of social support on a measure of perceived social support they also reported that the COVID-19 pandemic made them feel isolated and that they lacked social support. It was found that the sample of HP students reported significantly higher psychological distress than the mean scores of the age and sex matched sample of Canadian peers. Conclusions These findings call for creation of more tailored interventions and supports for HP students.https://doi.org/10.1186/s40359-023-01218-yUniversityMental healthHealth professionalSocial supportCOVIDResilience |
| spellingShingle | Pamela Button Laura Fallon Ken Fowler The impact of perceived social support and coping on distress in a sample of Atlantic Canadian health professional students during COVID-19 compared to pre-COVID peers BMC Psychology University Mental health Health professional Social support COVID Resilience |
| title | The impact of perceived social support and coping on distress in a sample of Atlantic Canadian health professional students during COVID-19 compared to pre-COVID peers |
| title_full | The impact of perceived social support and coping on distress in a sample of Atlantic Canadian health professional students during COVID-19 compared to pre-COVID peers |
| title_fullStr | The impact of perceived social support and coping on distress in a sample of Atlantic Canadian health professional students during COVID-19 compared to pre-COVID peers |
| title_full_unstemmed | The impact of perceived social support and coping on distress in a sample of Atlantic Canadian health professional students during COVID-19 compared to pre-COVID peers |
| title_short | The impact of perceived social support and coping on distress in a sample of Atlantic Canadian health professional students during COVID-19 compared to pre-COVID peers |
| title_sort | impact of perceived social support and coping on distress in a sample of atlantic canadian health professional students during covid 19 compared to pre covid peers |
| topic | University Mental health Health professional Social support COVID Resilience |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1186/s40359-023-01218-y |
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