Stress and distress in healthcare students: protective roles of social support, student community and meaningfulness of studying.

Objectives: To explore association between perceived stress and psychological distress (depressive symptoms and anxiety), and the stress-buffering effects of social support (parents, partners, friends, peers, teachers, social media), sense of community belonging and meaningfulness of studying.

Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted in 2018 using a convenience sample of 800 healthcare students from the University of Helsinki, Finland. Participants completed an online survey. Logistic regression analyses were performed using the PROCESS Macro to explore the relationship between perceived stress and psychological distress, and the moderator effects.

Results: Perceived stress was associated with depressive symptoms and anxiety. Perceived stress had significant interactions with parent (B =-.03, t₍₇₈₃₎ = -2.4, p < .001), partner (B = -.05, t₍₇₈₃₎ = -4.3, p < .001) and peer support (B=-.04, t₍₇₈₃₎ = -3.0, p < .001), sense of community belonging (B=-.06, t₍₇₈₃₎ = -2.7, p < .01) and meaningfulness of studying (B=-.12, t₍₇₈₃₎ = -4.5, p < .001) in predicting depressive symptoms, and with parent (B = -.05, t₍₇₈₃₎= -3.8, p < .001), partner (B = -.03, t₍₇₈₃₎ = -2.2, p < .05) and peer support (B=-.05, t₍₇₈₃₎ =-3.5, p < .001), sense of community belonging (B=-.05, t₍₇₈₃₎=-2.5, p < .01) and meaningfulness of studying (B = -.08, t₍₇₈₃₎ = -3.0, p < .01) in predicting anxiety. Perceived stress had weaker effects on depressive symptoms and anxiety at higher levels of support, sense of community belonging and meaningfulness of studying.

Conclusions: Support from parents, romantic partners and peers, sense of community belonging and meaningfulness of studying may buffer the negative psychological outcomes of perceived stress. Promoting social support, sense of community and the meaningfulness of studying can help prevent psychological distress in healthcare students. Longitudinal research and further investigation on factors related to sense of community belonging and meaningfulness of studying are warranted.