The relationships between student stressors with psychological problems in students in a military Medical Sciences University in Tehran

The stressful resources have a significant impact on students’ mental health which may cause dysfunction in both educational and professional performances in military students. The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationships between students' stressful factors and psychological problems (stress, anxiety and depression) among Students at a military medical sciences university in Tehran, Iran.

This study was a descriptive cross-sectional study. The sample consisted of 319 subjects from medical, pharmaceutical, nursing and health schools in a Military Medical Sciences University, who were studying at the university during the academic year of 2017-2018. The data gathering tool was a questionnaire. Students Stressors Questionnaire (SSQ) was used to assess the sources of stress in the students and to assess the anxiety, stress and depression, the DASS-21 questionnaire was used. Data were analyzed using descriptive and correlation methods and pathway analysis using SPSS-16 and Amos software.

Of the 319 students, 273 (86%) were male and 46 (14%) were female. The mean age of students was 22.32±1.97 years. 22.64% of students had severe to very severe stress, 34.27% had severe to very severe anxiety and 35.65% had severe to very severe depression. Three stressful resources, such as academic conditions, academic environment and graduation stresses had significant relationships (P≤0.05) with stress, anxiety and depression. The stressors of the dormitory environment had a direct relationship with stress and anxiety, but was not found with depression.

The existence of direct and indirect relationships between student stressful resources and psychological variables in medical students indicates the importance of controlling the types of psychological stress related resources associated with university education in order to manage mental health of students.