Diaphragmatic Breathing and Performance Anxiety in Dental Students

Abstract

Purpose/Objectives. The aims of this study were to assess first-year dental students’ attitudes and perceptions of diaphragmatic breathing (DB) and compare students with and without performance anxiety in terms of their attitudes and perceptions of DB. Methods. A lecture discussing a DB technique was presented to 195 students in the Operative Dentistry course at Tufts University School of Dental Medicine. Post-lecture, a 10-question survey was distributed and addressed students’ attitudes and perceptions towards DB and its potential impact in dental school, personal lives, and future careers. Results. Of the 81 surveys completed, 44 students (54%) reported having heard of DB previously; 59 (73%) reported they experience performance anxiety. Seventy-two students (89%) reported thinking that practicing DB will benefit them as practicing dentists; 71 (88%) reported they would use it if stressed in everyday life. Seventy-six (94%) reported they would be interested in using the technique before a competency exam. Students reporting performance anxiety expressed significantly greater agreement that DB is a valuable coping tool ( P = .016) and willingness to participate in DB before an Operative Dentistry competency exam ( P = .018). Conclusions. Teaching diaphragmatic breathing to first-year dental students may provide them with a valuable coping tool to mitigate stress and anxiety.

Depressive symptoms and their correlates among predoctoral dental students in the United States

“…Pastan et al. described dental school as “a time of immense stress for most students” 50 and listed some of the stressors commonly present during this time. Those external to academics (and not specific to dental school) may include a move to a new location, the physical absence of support networks such as family and friends, and pressures to cultivate new social relationships.…”

“…The dental school curriculum itself may also produce high levels of stress due to its combination of didactic examinations, which require both depth and breadth of knowledge, with preclinical and clinical competency and eventually clinical care. Performance anxiety and associated negative outcomes may be particularly heightened for dental students during preclinical competency examinations, in which hand skills are required for success, yet those very skills may be compromised by nervousness and fear of public failure 50 . Unsurprisingly, sources of stress tend to change as dental students proceed through their educational program, with preclinical students reporting coursework to be among the greatest stressors and students with clinical responsibilities reporting such responsibilities to be a main stressor 51 .…”