Stress and Coping Styles of Radiologic Science Students

To explore the mechanisms U.S. radiologic science students use to cope with stress.

The Coping Inventory for Stressful Situations (CISS) was used to determine U.S. radiologic science students' coping mechanisms. The authors coupled the General Health Questionnaire with the CISS to determine whether a higher propensity for emotional distress revealed differences in coping mechanisms. Along with descriptive statistics, t tests were employed to determine whether differences existed in task, emotion, and avoidance coping mechanisms between women and men and within sex groups.

No statistically significant differences were found between the sexes for adaptive task-oriented coping and maladaptive emotion-based coping; however, more men (82.8%) than women (71.2%) used avoidance coping. Women with higher levels of emotional distress more frequently used maladaptive emotion-based and avoidance coping mechanisms than did those with lower levels of emotional distress. Men with higher levels of emotional distress more frequently used maladaptive emotion-based coping than did those with lower levels of emotional distress.

Helping students distinguish between healthy and unhealthy coping mechanisms might allow them to become more efficient and healthy members of their professional communities. Establishing that those who are at a high risk for emotional distress often display maladaptive coping mechanisms might provide a catalyst for intervention.

Finding and promoting resources that teach and encourage students to use task-oriented coping skills could be useful in their educational and professional development.