STRESS, ANXIETY, AND DEPRESSION LEVELS IN COLLEGIATE AEROSPACE STUDENTS: A STUDY COMPARING TRADITIONAL AND AEROSPACE STUDENTS AT MIDDLE TENNESSEE STATE UNIVERSITY

Abstract

This paper investigates and compares stress, anxiety, and depression levels among a sample of 574 undergraduate students in the Aerospace Professional Pilot concentration, Aerospace majors in concentrations other than Professional Pilot, and Non-Aerospace students at Middle Tennessee State University. This study sought to determine if Aerospace students exhibited higher levels of depression, anxiety, and stress. The participants of this study completed the DASS-21, a survey instrument that measures three separate constructs, depression, anxiety, and stress. The scores from this survey were used to compare depression, anxiety, and stress levels between the three groups of students using ANOVA and a Tukey HSD posthoc. The results of this study found that Aerospace students did not exhibit higher levels of depression, anxiety, or stress and that non-Aerospace students scored higher in all three categories.