Ko S M, Kua E H, Fones C S
Department of Psychological Medicine, National University Hospital, Singapore.
Singapore Med J. 1999 Oct;40(10):627-30.
To assess the psychological health of undergraduates during their initial entry to the University, and to identify common sources of stress in their lives.
All first year law and medical undergraduates were administered a series of questionnaires.
Of the 135 medical and 128 law first year undergraduates surveyed using the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ) to measure psycho-emotional distress, 77 medical students (57%) and 69 law students (47.3%) scored above the traditional cut-off of 4/5 points. Law students had significantly lower (p < 0.05) Life-Events Scores (mean 40.62, SD 29.30) than medical students (mean 55.62, SD 31.70). There was no statistical significant difference between medical (mean 89.32, SD 18.36) and law (mean 93.39, SD +/- 19.76) students (p = 0.88) in Type A Behavioural Pattern (TAPB). Hostelites (n = 67) reported significantly higher (p < 0.05) LES (mean 56.22, SD +/- 28.17) than non-hostelites (n = 196, mean 45.40, SD +/- 32.04). The commonest life events experienced in the past twelve months by the students were: (1) Difficulty keeping up with reading (84.4%), (2) Increased amount of academic work (82.5%), (3) Difficulty in tutorials (66.5%), (4) Little time for personal activities (61.6%) and (5) Difficulties in lectures as well as (6) peer competition (each 46.8%). Law students cited more relationship problems, while medical students were more troubled by academic work. When faced with a problem, more than seven out of ten students would turn to friends and classmates for help. The other common avenues of support were the family, and religion. A substantial proportion of law (37.5%) and medical (31.1%) students preferred to keep their problems to themselves; significantly (p < 0.00001) more of them (72.2%) were high GHQ scorers than other students (high GHQ scorers 47.4%). Interestingly 27.8% of these students turn to religion for emotional support.
Health education programmes, mentorship and a reduction in information overload in the curriculum can be important strategies to enable undergraduates cope better with the demands of tertiary education.
评估本科新生刚进入大学时的心理健康状况，并确定他们生活中常见的压力源。
对所有一年级法律专业和医学专业的本科生进行了一系列问卷调查。
在使用一般健康问卷（GHQ）来测量心理情绪困扰的135名医学专业和128名法律专业一年级本科生中，77名医学专业学生（57%）和69名法律专业学生（47.3%）的得分高于传统的4/5分临界值。法律专业学生的生活事件得分（平均40.62，标准差29.30）显著低于医学专业学生（平均55.62，标准差31.70）（p<0.05）。医学专业学生（平均89.32，标准差18.36）和法律专业学生（平均93.39，标准差±19.76）在A型行为模式（TAPB）方面无统计学显著差异（p = 0.88）。住校生（n = 67）报告的生活事件得分（平均56.22，标准差±28.17）显著高于非住校生（n = 196，平均45.40，标准差±32.04）（p<0.05）。学生在过去十二个月中经历的最常见生活事件为：（1）难以跟上阅读进度（84.4%），（2）学术工作量增加（82.5%），（3）辅导课困难（66.5%），（4）个人活动时间少（61.6%），（5）讲座困难以及（6）同伴竞争（均为46.8%）。法律专业学生提到的人际关系问题更多，而医学专业学生则更多地受到学术问题的困扰。当面临问题时，超过十分之七的学生会向朋友和同学求助。其他常见的支持途径是家庭和宗教。相当一部分法律专业（37.5%）和医学专业（31.1%）的学生更喜欢将问题藏在心里；他们中高GHQ得分者（72.2%）显著多于其他学生（高GHQ得分者47.4%）（p<0.00001）。有趣的是，这些学生中有27.8%会向宗教寻求情感支持。
健康教育计划、导师指导以及减少课程中的信息过载可能是使本科生更好地应对高等教育要求的重要策略。
