Abstract
Objectives : The purpose of this study was to examine the stressors and stress-adaptation patterns of students preparing for the national dental hygiene certification examination. Methods : The subjects in this study were dental hygiene juniors in four selected colleges located in the metropolitan area. After a survey was conducted, the collected data were analyzed. Results : 1. Concerning motivation of choosing the department of dental hygiene, the largest group that accounted for 72.2 percent chose it due to employment prospects. As to satisfaction level with the department, 40.4 percent were satisfied. In relation to employment prospects, 54.1 percent thought the prospects were bright. 2. They got a mean of 3.23 in stressors. To be specific, they felt the most stress due to test anxiety(3.70), followed by leisure insufficiency (3.21), the uncertainty of the future(3.18) and parental pressure(2.64). 3. They got a mean of 2.02 in stress-adaptation method. They got 2.31 and 1.72 in long-term and short-term adaptation respectively, which showed that long-term stress adaptation method were more prevailing than short-term ones. 4. As for the relationship of the stressors, there was positive correlation among all the test anxiety, future uncertainty, leisure insufficiency and parental pressure, and their correlation was statistically significant(p<0.000). 5. Regarding connections between general characteristics and the stressors, whether they spent two years or more for college admission, satisfaction level with the dental hygiene department, employment prospects and health status made significant differences to the stressors (p<0.05), and there were significant gaps in adaptation patterns according to academic standing, satisfaction level with the department and health state(p<0.05). Conclusions : The dental hygiene students were under great pressure since they had to prepare for the national dental hygiene certification examination to become a certified dental hygienist, one of professional health care workers. Therefore stress counseling programs and stress-coping programs should be developed to relieve the stress of dental hygiene students who are going to take the national dental hygiene certification examination. And they should be assisted to stay away from stress and to handle their stress in a more active manner.