Levels of Stress, Anxiety and Depression among Students at Alma Mater Europaea Campus College “Rezonanca,” Kosovo

Abstract

Background: This study aims to assess the prevalence of psychological well-being, the level of psychological stress and perceived anxiety among dental students at the Alma Mater Europaea Campus College “Rezonanca.” Methods and Results: We evaluated the stress and anxiety levels of 70 students in the fourth year of dentistry studies at the Alma Mater Europaea Campus College “Rezonanca” in Kosovo in the school year 2022/2023. The distribution of students was equal in terms of gender. Participants were surveyed using the DASS-21 questionnaire. A questionnaire with 25 questions was used to determine the most frequent causes of stress. This questionnaire was distributed to the students at the same time as the DASS-21 questionnaire. The questionnaire had 25 questions about stress. Students had the opportunity to choose the level of stress for the respective statement from 1 to 4. The evaluation was done on a Likert scale. Then, the answers were converted into points by multiplying the given answer by 10. There was no statistically significant difference among female and male students on the mean points of depression, anxiety, and stress sub-scales. At the normal range of depression scores were 78.6% of students, followed by 67.1% for normal anxiety levels, and 92.9% for normal stress scores. We found no statistically significant difference in the distribution of the severity rating of depression, anxiety, and stress scores between female and male students. Conclusion: Dental students are exposed to various sources of stress. Stress in DS begins before they are accepted into the dental program and continues until they graduate. To reduce the stress levels among dental students, it is recommended that dental faculties, their clinical mentors, their peers, and colleagues make an effective plan to reduce stress among their students.