The influence of personality and preventive resources on perceived stress in German social work students

Social work students are preparing for a high risk profession that might involve occupational stress and stress-related health outcomes. The transactional stress model by Lazarus and Folkman describes the process of cognitive appraisals in response to potential stressors in the environment and what central variables are antecedent to the perception of stress. In this study the interplay of core facets of the transactional stress model is investigated in order to underline the importance of teaching and improving preventive resources in social work education programs. This study explored personality, stress prevention resources, perceived stress, and stress symptoms for social work students. Structural equation modelling was used to examine how students' stress symptoms are influenced by these factors and how the interplay between those factors can best be described. A sample of German social work students was surveyed (n = 407). Evidence was found for direct effects of stress prevention resources on perceived stress and from perceived stress on psychological symptoms. Therefore this study provides insights into how perceived stress in social work students can be explained with the transactional model and that prevention strategies need to be included in their educational program.