Stress, Anxiety and Empathy in Dental Students: A Multicentre Analysis From Turkey

INTRODUCTION: This study investigates the relationships between stress, anxiety and empathy levels among dental students from two universities in Turkey. By examining variations across gender and academic year, it aims to address a significant gap in the literature regarding the psychological factors influencing empathy in dental education. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted among 573 dental students from Yozgat Bozok University and the Gülhane Faculty of Dentistry, University of Health Sciences. Data were collected using an online questionnaire including sociodemographic information, the Dental Environmental Stress Scale (DES), Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI) and Jefferson Scale of Physician Empathy-Student Version (JSPE-S). Non-parametric tests (Mann-Whitney U, Kruskal-Wallis with Dunn-Bonferroni post hoc) were used, and Spearman's rho assessed correlations. RESULTS: Female students reported significantly higher stress and anxiety levels compared to males (p < 0.001). Stress and anxiety peaked in the 2nd-4th academic years, while 1st-year students had significantly lower scores (p < 0.001). Empathy scores were moderate-to-high across all years, with higher scores in females, though the difference was marginal (p = 0.051). Stress and anxiety were moderately correlated (r = 0.481, p < 0.001). However, neither stress-empathy (r = 0.015, p = 0.712) nor anxiety-empathy (r = 0.080, p = 0.057) correlations were statistically significant. CONCLUSIONS: Dental students experience substantial stress and anxiety, particularly during clinical training years, with female students more affected. Despite these challenges, empathy levels remain moderate-to-high and largely unaffected by stress or anxiety. These findings underscore the importance of incorporating stress management, psychological support and empathy training into dental curricula to promote student well-being and enhance patient-centred care.