Marriage and Family Therapy Graduate Student Stress: A Survey of AAMFT Student Members

The purpose of this study was to examine stress that MFT graduate students experience in their personal lives. The researcher developed a 31-item quantitative and qualitative questionnaire to identify factors that relate to stress experienced by MFT graduate students and coping resources and strategies that MFT graduate students use to handle their stress. Fifty-seven percent (57%) of the 500 student members surveyed responded to the mailed questionnaire. Descriptive statistics, as well as quantitative and qualitative analyses were conducted.

Quantitative results revealed that 94% MFT graduate students in this sample were moderately to highly stressed. The results also revealed that “Considering Dropping Out” is the strongest indicator of high levels of stress. Other statistically significant relationships found were age and student status (full-time or part-time). Qualitative results revealed students' coping skills and suggestions for MFT program directors to improve their assistance to students dealing with stress.