BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Studies of healthcare students report increased levels of stress, with academic pressures being the greatest source. The objective of this study was to examine the differences in the overall stress level, stressors, and reactions to stressors between physiotherapy students at the University of Gothenburg (GU) and those at the Hanze University of Applied Sciences (HUAS).METHODS: The Student-life Stress Inventory was used. The participants (n = 116) included physiotherapy students at GU and HUAS. The distribution of the questionnaire occurred during a regular lecture or in a lecture that was scheduled particularly for its distribution.RESULTS: At GU, 13.7% of the students rated their level of stress as mild, whereas 72.5% of them rated it as moderate. The corresponding values for HUAS students were 43.9% and 43.9%, respectively. This difference between two universities was significant (p = 0.006). The total score of the subcategories indicated that the students at GU reported significantly higher levels of stressors (p = 0.027) and reactions to stressors (p = 0.003). However, there were no significant differences in the male participants between the universities.CONCLUSION: Female students in their three-year educational program in Sweden experienced significantly more stress than Dutch female students in their four-year educational program.
The COVID-19 crisis impacts populations globally. This impact seems to differ for groups with low- and high-socioeconomic status (SES). We conducted a qualitative study in the Netherlands using a salutogenic perspective to examine experiences with stressors and coping resources during the pandemic among both SES groups to gain insight on how to promote the health and well-being of these groups. We conducted 10 focus group discussions and 20 interviews to explore the experiences, including resources and stressors, of respondents from low- (N = 37) and high-SES (N = 38) groups (25-55 years, Dutch speaking). We analyzed the findings at individual, community, and national levels. The results show that coping depends on government-imposed measures and the way individuals handle these measures; restriction to the home context with positive and negative consequences for work and leisure; psychological negative consequences and resourcefulness; and social effects related to unity (e.g. social cohesion or support) and division (including polarization). Respondents with lower SES expressed more problems with COVID-19 measures and experienced more social impact in their neighborhood than those with higher SES. Where low-SES groups especially mentioned the effects of staying at home on family life, high-SES groups mentioned effects on work life. At last, psychological consequences seem to differ somewhat across SES groups. Recommendations include consistent government-imposed measures and government communication, support for home schooling children, and strengthening the social fabric of neighborhoods.
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Health care students’ report high levels of stress with academic pressureas the greatest source. Physiotherapy (PT) curriculum in Sweden is 3 years (180 EC’s) and in the Netherlands 4 years (240 Ec’s)Aim : to determine differences in overall level of stress, stressorsand reactions to stressors between PT students at University ofGothenburg(GU) and Hanze University of Applied Sciences (HUAS).
Many Caribbean reefs have shifted from coral-dominated to algal-dominated ecosystems. The high algae cover reduces coral recruitment, making the reef unable to recover from other disturbances and resulting in flatter reefs with lower biodiversity. One of the reasons for the proliferation of algae is a mass die-off of the herbivorous sea urchin Diadema antillarum in the early 1980s. Natural recovery of Diadema populations is slow to non-existent, making active restoration of this important grazer a top priority in Caribbean coral reef management, especially since Diadema densities were reduced by another mass mortality event in 2022. The marine park organizations of Saba and St. Eustatius want to restore Diadema populations by restocking cultured individuals. However, important knowledge gaps need to be addressed before large numbers of Diadema can be restocked on the reef. Current culture methods can only produce a limited number of competent larvae. In addition, only 8% of the settlers survive and after restocking, survival on the reef is low as well. In the RAAK PRO Diadema II project, the bottlenecks in Diadema culture will be addressed by comparing larval survival across multiple culture methods and investigating the relation between larval size and post-settlement survival. Growing-out juveniles at sea is likely to help prepare them for life in the wild, while restocking at an optimal size might also increase survival. Finally, a thorough restocking site selection based on high shelter availability and settlement rates will increase the long-term Diadema densities. The acquired knowledge and developed practices will be verified in a larger scale restocking experiment involving at least 5000 Diadema urchins. By restoring Diadema populations through restocking, macroalgae will be more intensively removed and corals will have a chance to settle and to survive, increasing the ability of the reef to cope with other stressors.
