title: Mental Health and Coping Strategies among Medical Students.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Recently, concern of the college students' mental health has increased due to their continuous psychologic problems such as suicidal attempt. This study aimed to examine the correlation among depression, stress, self-esteem, and coping strategies of the medical students and also according to the academic year.
  
  
  METHODS
  The subject was 384 medical students of K medical school in Korea. Self-rating depression scale, stress scale, self-esteem scale was used for the survey, and academic stress and coping strategies of the students were asked. Frequency analysis, one-way ANOVA, t-test, correlation analysis was carried out.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Third year students were under most stress (F=5.67, p=0.000) and had the most students who were moderately (22.9%) and mildly depressed (6.3%). Stress form academic studies and grade was also the highest in third year students. For English fluency, freshmen students scored the top. Academic career stress and school culture stress were higher for year 3, 4, 5, 6 than year 1, 2 students. Differences of the coping strategies by academic year was significant in emotional display. Students who showed high level of depression and stress, also students with low self-esteem used emotional display as their major coping strategy.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Depending on their academic year medical students' level of depression and stress was different, and they did not use a variety of coping strategies. Therefore, a program which can give a diverse access to variety of coping strategies to relieve students' stress should be developed taking their characteristics of academic year into consideration.
authors: Department of Medical Education, College of Medicine, Konyang University, Daejeon, Korea.
authors: Keum Ho
authors: KH
authors: Lee
authors: Department of Nursing Science, College of Medicine, Konyang University, Daejeon, Korea.
authors: Yukyung
authors: Y
authors: Ko
authors: Department of Dental Hygiene, College of Medical Science, Konyang University, Daejeon, Korea.
authors: Kyung Hee
authors: KH
authors: Kang
authors: Department of Social Welfare, College of Rehabilitation & Welfare & Education, Konyang University, Daejeon, Korea.
authors: Hye Kuyung
authors: HK
authors: Lee
authors: Department of Pharmacology, College of Medicine, Konyang University, Daejeon, Korea.
authors: Jaeku
authors: J
authors: Kang
authors: Department of Medical Education, College of Medicine, Konyang University, Daejeon, Korea.
authors: Yera
authors: Y
authors: Hur
keywords: Coping strategies; Medical students; Stress