Potential predictors of psychological distress and well-being in medical students: a cross-sectional pilot study

Abstract

Purpose

Research has consistently found that the proportion of medical students who experience high levels of psychological distress is significantly greater than that found in the general population. The aim of our research was to assess the levels of psychological distress more extensively than has been done before, and to determine likely predictors of distress and well-being.

Subjects and methods

In 2013, students from an Australian undergraduate medical school (n=127) completed a questionnaire that recorded general demographics, hours per week spent studying, in paid work, volunteer work, and physical exercise; past and current physical and mental health, social support, substance use, measures of psychological distress (Kessler Psychological Distress Scale, depression, anxiety, stress, burnout); and personality traits.

Results

Females were found to have higher levels of psychological distress than males. However, in regression analysis, the effect of sex was reduced to nonsignificance when other variables were included as predictors of psychological distress. The most consistent significant predictors of our 20 indicators of psychological distress were social support and the personality traits of emotional resilience and self-control.

Conclusion

The findings suggest that emotional resilience skills training embedded into the medical school curriculum could reduce psychological distress among medical students.

Keywords:

• medical student
• well-being
• psychological distress
• personality

Disclosure

MB is one of the authors of the Personal Qualities Assessment battery of tests, and receives a royalty payment when the PQA is used commercially. He did not receive any payment for the use of the HPVS in this study. BK and BN report no conflicts of interest in this work. The research was funded by the authors. Preliminary findings were presented as an oral presentation at the Australian Conference on Personality and Individual Differences, Griffith University, Brisbane, Australia, November 22–23, 2013.