Objective: To determine the frequency of various coping strategies adopted against depression, anxiety and stress among medical students in different medical colleges of Rawalpindi and Islamabad.
Methodology: This cross-sectional study, using self-administered questionnaire was conducted from April to August 2017 and included 572 medical undergraduate students took from Rawalpindi and Islamabad. Brief Cope Inventory was used, the questionnaire also included socio-economic and demographic information. For data analysis, SPSS version 23 was used.
Results: Out of 572 students, 395(60.1%) were females and 177(30.9%) males. Majority of the individuals (78.5%; n=449) were using religion as a coping strategy. Other coping strategies adopted were planning (60.3%; n=345), self-distraction (59.2%; n=339), use of positive reframing (43.8%; n=251) and humor (35.8%; n=205).
Conclusions: Certain coping strategies being adopted by medical students to cope with their stressful life conditions are religion, planning, self-distraction, positive reframing and humor.
Key words: Anxiety, coping strategies, depression, medical students, stress.
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