The Incidence of Anxiety and Depression in Physical Therapy Students. II. Hypothesis, Research Question and Literature Review

The Incidence of Anxiety and Depression in Physical Therapy Students. II. Hypothesis, Research Question and Literature Review

Clare Lewis, Psy.D.

Hypothesis

The incidence of anxiety and depression will be greater in physical therapy students than in the general public and that incidence will be similar to that seen in medical and law students.

Research Question

Physical therapy as a professional program has not been studied in terms of connecting the stress level inherent in this course of study with resultant anxiety and depression; therefore, the question remains: what is the incidence of anxiety and depression among physical therapy students?

Literature Review

Many studies can be found in the literature that have been conducted to explore the incidence of anxiety and depression in medical students. (Aktekin, Karaman, Senol, Erdem, Erengin & Akaydin, 2001; Becker, 1995; Clark & Zeldow, 1988; Clark & Zeldow, 1988; Hendrie, Clair, Brittain, & Fadul, 1989; Hojat, Glaser, Gang, Veloski & Christian, 1999; Lloyd &Gartrell, 1984; Lu, 1994; Mitchell, Matthews, Grandy, & Lupo, 1983; Notman, Salt & Nadelson, 1984; Parkerson, Broadhead & Tse, 1990; Russo, Miller & Vitaliano; 1985; Shapiro, Schwartz & Bonner, 1998; Stewart, Betson Lam, Marshall, Lee, & Wong, 1997; Stewart, Betson, Marshall & Wong, 1995; Stewart, Lam, Betson, Wong & Wong, 1999; Tyssen, Vaglum, Gronvold & Ekeberg, 2001; Vitaliano, Majuro, Russo & Mitchell, 1988; Vitaliano, Majuro, Russo & Mitchell, 1989; Vitaliano, Majuro, Russo & Mitchell, 1989; Wolf, Scurria & Webster, 1998)  Medical school has long been known to be quite stressful and to cause significant distress for the students (Shapiro, et al., 1998).

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About the Author

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Clare LewisClare Lewis graduated from the Professional School of Psychology in 2003 with her doctorate in clinical psychology and in 2005 with her doctorate in organizational psychology. She has been licensed as a clinical psychologist since 2012.  In addition to her psychology degrees, Clare is a licensed physical therapist with an advanced masters in orthopedic manual therapy and an transitional doctorate in physical therapy.  Clare is a certified manual therapist from the Stanley Paris Institute and a fellow of the American Association of Orthopedic and Manual Physical Therapists.  Clare has been a professor in the department of physical therapy at CSU Sacramento since 1996.  She has taught the psychology class and orthopedic class for majors for many years. She practices physical therapy at Remedy Rehab in Sacramento, CA doing orthopedic out-patient manual therapy and volunteers at the suicide hotline for Sacramento County.

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