Self-care in clinical psychology graduate students: Relationship to academic and professional stress

This study examined the prevalence of self-care and its relationship to academic and professional stress. Participants were 109 clinical psychology graduate students from two Psy.D. programs in a large metropolitan area. Eighty-seven were female and 22 male, ranging in age from 22 to 46. Participants had varying ethnic backgrounds and most were working at clinical placements in therapy or assessment. Responses to questionnaires on self-care, academic stress, and professional stress were used to examine correlations between these constructs. Self-care was practiced at a moderate rate by the overall sample, while academic stress was reported at a moderate level, and professional stress at a low level. Results showed a nonsignificant negative correlation between self-care and academic stress. Overall self-care was negatively correlated with work overinvolvement, scheduling, and personal depletion (small effect size, significant at the .05 level). Self-care lifestyle factors were negatively correlated with overall professional stress, as well as various factors of professional stress, including scheduling problems (small effect size, significant at the .05 level), work overinvolvement (small effect size, significant at the 01 level) and personal depletion (moderate effect size, significant at the .001 level). Self-care relationship factors were negatively correlated with work overinvolvement and personal depletion (small effect size, significant at the .05 level). Results add to existing literature on the prevalence of self-care (e.g., Richards, Campenni, & Muse-Burke, 2010). Specific recommendations were made for modifications to graduate programs in clinical psychology in order to provide a stronger emphasis on self-care and thereby improve trainees' professional functioning.