Effect of Communication Skills Training on Components of Corona Stress in Students of Islamic Azad University of Tehran, Medical Sciences Branch

The coronavirus pandemic (Covid-19) caused severe stress and decreased communication skills among various groups, including medical students. Therefore, this study aimed to determine the effect of communication skills training on the components of corona stress in students of medical sciences.

This study was applied in terms of purpose and followed a quasi-experimental design with a pretest-posttest and a control group. The research population included students of the Islamic Azad University of Tehran, Medical Sciences Branch, in the 2021-2022 academic years. A total of 170 students were selected as the sample by simple random sampling and were randomly divided into two equal groups through a draw. The experimental group received four 120-min sessions of communication skills training for one month, and the control group did not receive any training during this period and remained on the waiting list for training. The research tools included a demographic characteristics questionnaire and the “Corona Stress Scale”. The content validity was confirmed by experts’ opinions, and the reliability was calculated by internal consistency using Cronbach’s alpha coefficient. Data were analyzed using tests of chi-squared, independent sample t-test, and multivariate analysis of covariance in the SPSS software (version 26).

The results showed that the experimental and control groups did not significantly differ in any variables of gender (χ2=0.46, P=0.496) and mean age (t=-1.49, P=0.135). In addition, it was found that communication skills training reduced corona stress psychological states (F=1518.06, P=0.001), corona stress physical states (F=2197.35, P=0.001), and corona stress-related behaviors (F=1220.10, P=0.001) in medical students.

Communication skills training was effective in reducing the components of corona stress in medical students. Therefore, to reduce corona stress, communication skills training can be used, along with other effective training methods.