"Perceived Stress and Coping Strategies Among Jordanian Medical Students: Implications for Medical Education"

Medical students face high academic and psychological demands, making them especially vulnerable to stress. Ongoing stress without effective coping can harm their mental health and academic performance. Guided by the Transactional Model of Stress and Coping, this study aimed to assess perceived stress levels among Jordanian medical students, identify related sociodemographic factors, and examine the coping strategies they use to manage stress.

A cross-sectional study was conducted among 622 medical students recruited through a stratified convenience sampling approach from public and private Jordanian universities. Data were collected using the Medical Student Stressor Questionnaire (MSSQ) and the Brief COPE inventory. Eight incomplete questionnaires were excluded before analysis using a complete-case approach. Descriptive and inferential statistics, including t-tests, ANOVA, and Pearson correlation, were performed using IBM SPSS v.22 to determine relationships between stress domains, coping strategies, and sociodemographic variables.

Moderate to high stress levels were reported across all MSSQ domains. Female students, those older than their academic year, students with lower GPAs, physically inactive students, and those reporting lower perceived social support had significantly higher stress levels (p < 0.05). Problem-focused and emotion-focused coping were more common among females and students with higher perceived social support, while avoidant coping was associated with female sex, having a lower GPA, perceived social support, and being older than one's academic year. Avoidant coping demonstrated the strongest positive correlations with all stress domains, suggesting that greater reliance on maladaptive coping strategies is associated with higher perceived psychological distress.

Stress is common among Jordanian medical students and is strongly affected by demographic, academic, and lifestyle factors. Avoidant coping is tied to higher stress, while problem-focused and emotion-focused coping strategies seem more effective. These findings support the integration of structured student wellness initiatives, resilience training, mentorship programmes, and accessible mental health services within undergraduate medical education to promote healthier coping behaviours and improve student well-being.

The online version contains supplementary material available at https://doi.org/10.1007/s40670-026-02851-z.