Background: Students’ adjustment to a new environment is an essential aspect of their educational careers. Thus, it was aimed to estimate the prevalence of depression, anxiety, and stress among first-year medical and dental students and assess its relationship with their adjustment to college.
Methods: A cross-sectional study conducted at King Saud University with first-year medical and dental students during the academic year 2018-2019. A total of 407 participants were approached via online questionnaires that included Depression Anxiety and Stress Scale-21 and College Adjustment Test.
Results: Out of 377 participants who responded, the mean value of stress (8.61) was higher than depression (7.74) and anxiety (6.93). The mean values of three components of college adjustment tool showed higher mean value for negative effect (36.32) followed by positive effect (25.44) and complete home sickness (26.07). The female participants had significantly higher scores regarding anxiety and stress and had significantly higher mean values for complete home sickness (p = 0.006), whereas male subjects had significantly higher mean value of overall adjustment score when compared with the mean value of female subjects.
Conclusion: The students having difficulty adjusting to college were found to have higher mean scores of depression, anxiety, and stress. College administrators and faculty should be aware of such findings to develop solutions that could facilitate a smoother adjustment to college.
Key words: College, Adjustment, Depression, Anxiety, Stress
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