Yuanita Lely Rachmawati, Tubagus Agnizarridlo, Diena Fuadiyah, Shaffiratul Aziz, Zainal Arifin, Kurnia Putri Alvianti
Objective: To assess stress, anxiety, and depression among preclinical and clinical dental students during online learning, as well as the factors that contributed to these conditions. Material and Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted in late 2021 involving 580 dental students from Indonesian dental faculties. Data were collected via an online questionnaire distributed via social media, using a snowball sampling approach. The questionnaire included informed consent, sociodemographic data, behavioral factors, lecture activities, and the Depression Anxiety Stress Scale (DASS-21). Data analysis was performed using Chi-square and logistic regression. Results: The prevalence of anxiety, stress, and depression among the total 607 students enrolled was 70.8%, 63.1%, and 51.6%, respectively, with preclinical students showing higher levels. Regular exercise was associated with a 37% reduction in stress, while attending online shortly lowered the likelihood of anxiety by 56%. Conversely, having family or friends diagnosed with COVID-19 increased the risk of depression by 1.53 and 1.88 times, respectively. Conclusion: Stress was related to lack of exercise and insufficient sleep, anxiety to higher online learning frequency, and depression was reduced by extracurricular activities but worsened by COVID-19 cases among family or friends. © 2026, Association of Support to Oral Health Research (APESB). All rights reserved.
Department of Community and Preventive Dentistry, Faculty of Dentistry, Universitas Brawijaya, Malang, Indonesia; Department of Paediatric Dentistry, Faculty of Dentistry, Universitas Trisakti, Jakarta, Indonesia; Department of Oral Biology, Faculty of Dentistry, Universitas Brawijaya, Malang, Indonesia; Faculty of Dentistry, Universitas Brawijaya, Malang, Indonesia
