Interrelationships among stress, coping and psychological well-being among preclinical medical students

Introduction: Because the level of stress is rather high among medical students, it would be important to prepare them for preventing it. Aim: The aim of the authors was to investigate the perceived stress level of medical students, their psychosomatic symptoms, coping strategies and satisfaction with life. Method: Preclinical medical students from the University of Szeged, Hungary (N = 155) participated in the study. Data collection was performed by groups, in self- administered, anonymous and voluntary form. Results: Levels of stress load and satisfaction with life among medical students were similar to previous international and national data. There were no gender differences in the levels of life satisfaction, however, levels of perceived stress and psychosomatic symptoms were higher among girls. Satisfaction with life was primarily related to perceived stress level and the coping methods. Conclusions: The results suggest that there are significant interrelationships among in the levels of perceived stress, psychosomatic symptoms and coping styles among in preclinical students. During medical education there is also a need for improving skills, such as coping and stress management.