Stress and Social Support Among Online Doctoral Psychology Students

This study explored the relationship between perceived stress and perceived need for social support among doctoral psychology students attending a distance education university. Although small sample size conceivably prevented identification of a direct correlation between these two factors, female doctoral students perceiving greater levels of stress demonstrated less affiliative and more aggressive needs. Perceived stress did not correlate with counseling readiness among the student sample. These findings suggest that female doctoral students engaged in online study may resemble their traditional campus peers.