The effect of life coaching on psychological distress among dental students: interventional study

Background: Depression, stress, and anxiety are common psychological conditions among dental students in many countries around the world. A number of researchers have found life coaching to be effective at reducing psychological distress. The aim of this study was to assess the effect of a life coaching program on dental students' psychological status. Methods: A quasi-experiment study with two arms was conducted on 88 female dental students at Umm Al-Qura University (study group=44; control group=44). The psychological status was assessed by questionnaire before and after intervention. The questionnaire was composed of the Depression and Anxiety Stress Scale (DASS-21), Resilience Scale (RS-14), the Psychological Well-Being Scale-Short (PWB-S), and goal approach questions. The study group received a coaching program comprising one lecture for 1 h and five phone coaching sessions over 5 weeks, while the control group received no intervention. Results: The study group showed a significant reduction in depression, anxiety, stress, resilience, and self-acceptance according to the PWB-S scale. Also, goal approach was significantly improved. On the other hand, the control group showed a significant reduction on the RS-14 only. The differences in the tested scales between the study group and the control group from pre-intervention (T1) to post-intervention (T2) showed significant differences in depression, stress, self-acceptance, and goal approach measurements per t-test. Conclusion: The study's findings showed that life coaching had the effect of reducing psychological distress, which encouraged the implementation of coaching practice in the daily life of dental students.