The Structural Relationship among Sense of Coherence, Clinical Practice Stress, and Departmental Satisfaction of Dental Hygiene Students / 치위생과학회지

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this study was to understand the comprehensive relationship among sense of coherence, clinical practice stress, and major satisfaction of students in the department of dental hygiene. From four local universities, departments of dental hygiene were selected: two departments represented a three-year curriculum system and two represented a four-year curriculum system. Data from the final questionnaires of 319 students were analyzed. Differences between variables were analyzed using t-tests and ANOVAs, and correlations were checked using Pearson's correlation coefficients. Path analysis was conducted to analyze the relationship among clinical practice stress, sense of coherence, and major satisfaction. The results indicated that clinical practice stress had a negative influential relationship with both sense of coherence, and major satisfaction. In addition, sense of coherence had a positive influential relationship with major satisfaction. The direct and indirect effects among factors displayed significant differences, indicating that clinical practice stress has a partial mediation effect on sense of coherence and major satisfaction. Therefore, major satisfaction can be increased by developing and implementing programs to improve sense of coherence.