Depression, Anxiety, and Stress in Dental Students and Associations with Sociodemographic Variables and the Academic Environment

To determine the occurrence of symptoms of depression, anxiety, and stress in dental students from public higher education institutions in the state of Paraíba, Brazil, and their associations with sociodemographic and academic environment variables. Sociodemographic characteristics were collected using a specific questionnaire created by the researchers. Data related to the occurrence of symptoms of depression, anxiety, and stress were collected using the Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale–21 items (DASS-21). The sample was composed of 488 undergraduate students, and the significance level for decisions on the statistical tests was set at 5%. The prevalence of depression, anxiety, and stress was 60.0%, 59.8%, and 60.9%, respectively. The multivariate analysis revealed that considering quitting the course was associated with all outcomes: depression (p = 0.001), anxiety (p < 0.001), and stress (p < 0.008). Furthermore, depression was associated with less practice of religion (p = 0.02) or non-belief (p = 0.004), lower family income (p = 0.045), or intermediate family income (p = 0.039). Anxiety was associated with an intermediate family income (p = 0.001), and stress was associated with less practice of physical exercise (p = 0.020). Such associations underscore the need for discussions on mental health in the academic environment, as the dental educational context is not structured in such a way as to ensure the mental health of the students. Dental schools should offer support to solve such problems, assisting in the avoidance of psychological disorders related to the academic environment as well as in the management of such disorders when they do arise.