School of Animal and Veterinary Sciences, University of Adelaide, Roseworthy, South Australia, Australia.
College of Veterinary Medicine, Washington State University, Pullman, Washington, USA.
Vet Rec. 2019 Jun 8;184(23):709. doi: 10.1136/vr.105042. Epub 2019 Mar 16.
Veterinary education can result in high levels of academic stressors for students. Students are also susceptible to non-academic stressors, including relationship issues and financial concerns. These can all result in mental ill health, which may impair the student's ability to complete their studies and go on to a successful professional career. Finding and using strategies early on to help alleviate mental health problems is critical to successful management of these problems, but seeking help may be impeded by the stigma associated with mental health problems. Using a cross-sectional online survey of a sample of Australian veterinary students, the aim of the current study was to investigate the type and frequency of their coping strategies as well as to explore relationships between self-stigma and coping strategies. Female veterinary students reported more use of instrumental and emotional support as coping strategies, while male veterinary students demonstrated more use of humour. Self-stigma was related to less instrumental support, greater self-blame and gender, while males who employed more humour as a coping strategy reported more self-stigma. Improving the coping strategies of veterinary students and reducing the self-stigma surrounding mental ill health is important to improve the wellbeing and resilience of the veterinary profession.
兽医教育可能会给学生带来高度的学术压力。学生也容易受到非学术压力源的影响，包括人际关系问题和经济问题。这些都会导致心理健康问题，可能会影响学生完成学业和顺利进入职业生涯的能力。尽早发现和使用策略来帮助缓解心理健康问题对于成功管理这些问题至关重要，但寻求帮助可能会受到与心理健康问题相关的污名的阻碍。本研究采用澳大利亚兽医学生样本的横断面在线调查，旨在调查他们的应对策略的类型和频率，并探讨自我污名与应对策略之间的关系。女兽医学生报告更多地使用工具性和情感支持作为应对策略，而男兽医学生则更多地使用幽默。自我污名与较少的工具性支持、更多的自责和性别有关，而那些将幽默作为应对策略的男性则报告了更多的自我污名。提高兽医学生的应对策略，减少围绕心理健康问题的自我污名，对于提高兽医行业的幸福感和韧性很重要。
