Stress among Graduate Social Work Students: An Empirical Study

Abstract

A survey of 82 graduate social work students revealed low levels of physical and psychological stress associated with graduate work. Physical and psychological symptoms were reported at higher levels in relation to classroom work than in relation to field practice. No major differences in stress were reported on the basis of sex or marital status, but class standing did produce significant differences on the basis of practice performance variables. Analysis of the correlations between physical symptom variables and practice performance, agency climate, and supervision found that the highest proportion of correlations occurs among field instruction supervision. Implications of these findings for social work education programs are discussed.