Ansiedade, depressão, estresse e satisfação com as vivências acadêmicas de estudantes de graduação em Gerontologia

Abstract

The increase in the number of older adults in the population brings the need for trained professionals to deal with the demands of aging in biopsychosocial aspects. Given this, the Gerontologist emerges, a new profession in Brazil whose regulation is underway in the National Congress, which can lead to insecurities and concerns. This study aimed to identify the association between satisfaction with academic experiences and anxiety, depression and stress in undergraduate Gerontology students. It was a descriptive, quantitative and cross-sectional study. The sample consisted of students enrolled in the undergraduate course in Gerontology at the Federal University of São Carlos, divided into two groups, according to the median of satisfaction with academic experiences, named: (a) Group with high satisfaction with academic experiences (GHigh Satisfaction): composed of students with scores of satisfaction with academic experiences above the median, (b) Group with low academic satisfaction (GLower Satisfaction): composed of students with scores of satisfaction with academic experiences below the median. The instruments for data collection were: Student Characterization Questionnaire, Academic Experiences Questionnaire – Short Version (QVA-R) and Anxiety, Depression and Stress Scale (EADS-21). The data obtained were entered into a database using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) for Windows program to perform descriptive and comparative statistical analyses. All stages of this work followed the ethical guidelines of scientific research involving human beings, according to Resolution 466/2012 of the National Health Council. The sociodemographic profile of undergraduate students in Gerontology was female, young, single, childless, with a favored family income, with religion – evangelical or catholic, non-practitioner and dedicated exclusively to student activities. The total scores and by dimension of satisfaction with academic experiences were high and were above the midpoint of the scale. The dimension that presented the best score was the “institutional”, followed by the “interpersonal” dimension. The dimensions with the lowest values were “personal” and “career” (in that order). Regarding emotional factors, the “stress” domain had the highest score, followed by the “depression” and “anxiety” domains. There was a significant association between satisfaction with academic experiences and anxiety, depression and stress among undergraduate students in Gerontology. It was concluded that with low satisfaction with academic life have a greater number of symptoms of depression, stress and anxiety.