DENTAL EDUCATION
PREDICTING THE PSYCHOLOGICAL WELL-BEING OF DENTAL STUDENTS DURING THE SEMESTER EVALUATION PERIOD : A PROSPECTIVE STUDY
Cristina Teodora Preoteasa 1a , Marian-Vladimir Constantinescu 2b * , Elena Preoteasa 3c
1
Department of Oral Diagnosis , Ergonomics , Scientific Research Methodology , Faculty of Dental Medicine , “ Carol Davila ” University of Medicine and Pharmacy , Bucharest , Romania
2
ROPOSTURO - Holistic Dental Medicine Institute , Bucharest , Romania
3
Department of Prosthodontics , Faculty of Dental Medicine , “ Carol Davila ” University of Medicine and Pharmacy , Bucharest , Romania a
DMD , PhD , Assistant Professor b
DDS , PhD , Professor c
DMD , PhD , Professor
Cite this article : Preoteasa CT , Constantinescu M-V , Preoteasa E . Predicting the psychological well-being of dental students during the semester evaluation period : a prospective study . Stoma Edu J . 2016 ; 3 ( 1 ): 47-53 .
ABSTRACT
Received : February 27 , 2016 Received in revised form : March 4 , 2016
Accepted : April 21 , 2016 Published online : February 27 , 2016
Aim : The study aimed at monitoring the psychological well-being of dental students over the first semester of the academic year , in order to acknowledge if psychological well-being during the semester evaluation period is predicted by well-being during teaching period . Methodology : Second year dental students from the Faculty of Dental Medicine , “ Carol Davila ” University of Medicine and Pharmacy , Bucharest , Romania were evaluated across the first academic semester , on three consecutive times during the teaching period , and one time during the semester evaluation evaluation period . Well-being was evaluated in terms of subjective positive psychological well-being , assessed by WHO-Five Well-being Index ( WHO-5 ), and as the severity of depression symptoms , assessed by Major Depression Inventory ( MDI ). Results : As expected , the students ’ psychological well-being was highest at the beginning of the semester and lowest during the semester evaluation period . By regression analysis it was observed that wellbeing during the semester evaluation period is poorly predicted by their well-being at the beginning of the semester , and it is better predicted when assessed in similar periods with regard to the quality of stressors ( i . e ., written examinations ) or at the end of the teaching period . Also , their psychological wellbeing in terms of severity of depression symptoms seems to be a more predictable state than subjective positive psychological well-being . Conclusion : Early identification of students at high risk to exhibit lowering levels of psychological wellbeing should be implemented in order to plan the necessary interventions to help students cope with the examination distress and prevent its unwanted consequences . Keywords : education , stress , risk , mental health , prevention .
1 . Introduction
Subjective psychological well-being is seen as a component of the general construct of well-being with great impact on everyday life , on the ability to identify and fulfil goals , to adapt and cope with the environment . 1 , 2 Evidence suggests that the educational process in the medical and dental schools associates a somehow inherent distress , which might have an inadvertent negative effect on the students ’ well-being , with probable short and long-term consequences , e . g . may affect the academic performance , is a risk factor for anxiety , depression and burnout , is linked to behavioural patterns and health of the future doctors . 3 , 4 Keeping in mind that the basic aim of education is to train knowledge , efforts need to be made in order to identify the most adequate ways to implement it . 5 , 6 Since a negative side effect of the educational process on the student ’ s psychological health is suspected , further high quality research is needed in order to understand the problem ’ s magnitude , aetiology , prognosis , and if necessary to identify the best diagnostic and interventional approaches . The aim of this study was to monitor the psychological well-being of second year dental students during the first semester of the academic year , in order to acknowledge if the psychological well-being during the semester evaluation period is predicted by well-being during the teaching period .
* Corresponding author : Professor Marian-Vladimir Constantinescu , DDS , PhD ROPOSTURO - Holistic Dental Medicine Institute 102-104 Mihai Eminescu st ., District 2 , Bucharest , RO - 20082 , Romania Tel / Fax : 031 432 7930 , e-mail : dr . vladimir . constantinescu @ gmail . com
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