Stress, Anxiety, Resilience and Coping in Social Work Students (A Study from India)

Abstract

Social work is a stressful occupation but continues to attract large numbers of students every year. This study was conducted by undergraduate students of all three cohorts at a women’s-only college in Tiruchirapalli in South India (N = 73). Standardised instruments to assess stress, anxiety, resilience and coping were administered. It was seen that anxiety and stress levels were relatively higher in the first- and third-year students while compared to those in the second year of their course, while resilience and coping was relatively low in the first-year group. Correlations were significantly positive for the stress and anxiety scores as well as the coping and resilience scores. However, it was seen that only the anxiety scores significantly predicted the manifestation of stress in the students. Implications of the findings and the limitations of the study have also been discussed.

Keywords:

• Social work students
• social work education
• anxiety
• stress
• resilience
• coping

Acknowledgement

The authors thank the Principal (Dr. V. Sujatha) and the Head of the Social Work Department (Dr. G. Kanaga) of Cauvery College for Women, Tiruchirappalli, India for enabling the execution of this study.