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Clinical Study: Managing Academic Stress in Medical Students

A clinical psychologist investigated stress-management interventions for 150 medical students reporting extreme academic anxiety. Using a clinical diagnostic stress inventory (scored from 0 to 50, where higher scores represent higher anxiety), 60 students with severe anxiety scores (between 38 and 45) were selected and randomly allocated to one of three conditions:

  • Condition 1: Group Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) – Six weekly, 90-minute therapist-led group sessions focusing on cognitive restructuring and coping strategies.
  • Condition 2: Virtual Reality Stress Inoculation Training (VR-SIT) – A self-guided virtual reality software program completed individually for 20 minutes daily over six weeks, using simulated high-stress medical scenarios with automated feedback.
  • Condition 3: Bibliotherapy Control – Participants were given a standard self-help booklet on stress-coping techniques to read in their own time over six weeks, with no active therapist contact.

One week post-intervention, all participants completed the stress inventory again.

Table 1: Mean and standard deviation of post-intervention stress scores

Condition 1: Group CBTCondition 2: VR-SITCondition 3: Bibliotherapy Control
Mean Stress Score18.219.535.8
Standard Deviation2.16.43.2

A statistical test comparing post-intervention stress scores between Condition 1 (Group CBT) and Condition 2 (VR-SIT) found no statistically significant difference (p>0.05p > 0.05p>0.05).

Discuss applications and/or implications that might arise from the findings of this study.

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Stress Questions

Practise AQA A Level Psychology Stress with exam-style questions for A Level Psychology. 100 questions covering Physiology of stress, Role of stress in illness, Sources of stress, Measuring stress, Individual differences in stress, and Managing and coping with stress, matched to the AQA A Level Psychology (7182) specification and written in Paper 1, Paper 2 and Paper 3 style. Every question includes a full worked solution and mark scheme, so you can see where marks are awarded rather than just whether you got the answer right.

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Stress Questions

  1. A Level
  2. /Psychology
  3. /Stress