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

Figures & data

Figure 1 Three personality traits of the health professional resilience model.

Note: Based on the findings reported in Munro et al.²²

Table 1 Accommodation, relationships, study, work, health, finances, and intended specialization

Accommodation	During semester, % (n)	Outside semester, % (n)	Relationship status	% (n)
With friends	50.4 (64)	11.0 (14)	Single, no current relationship	48.0 (61)
Partner	12.6 (16)	9.4 (12)	Single, in steady relationship	25.2 (32)
Parents or relatives	10.2 (13)	68.5 (87)	Partnered	18.1 (23)
Alone	9.4 (12)	3.9 (5)	Married	3.9 (5)
University college	8.7 (11)	0	Separated or divorced	1.6 (2)
Shared house	7.1 (9)	1.6 (2)	No response	3.1 (4)
Other/no response	1.6 (2)	5.5 (7)

Work and health	n	Mean hours	SD	Median	Range
Study per week	122	38	17.7	40	3–120
Paid work in semester	43	8	6.3	8	1–35
Paid work outside semester	58	23.2	15.1	20	1–60
Volunteer work in semester	39	3.8	2.5	4	0.2–10
Volunteer work outside semester	36	5	4.1	4	0.1–15
Exercise/physical activity in semester	126	4.5	3.1	4	0–15
Exercise/physical activity outside semester	120	5.7	4.2	5	0–20
Satisfied with exercise/physical activities	119	4.1	1.0	4	1–5
Satisfied with other leisure activities	100	4.4	0.8	5	1–5
		Mean rating	SD	Median	Range
Physical health, past 5 years	126	3.9	0.7	4	1–5
Mental health, past 5 years	127	3.5	1.0	4	1–5
Current physical health	127	4.0	0.7	4	1–5
Current mental health	127	3.6	0.9	4	1–5

Intended specialization	% (n)	Use of health services	Yes, % (n)
Not sure yet	40.9 (52)	Aware of University Health support	81 (103)
General practice	15.7 (20)	Services promoted adequately	38 (49)
Surgery	13.4 (17)	Know someone who has used service	46 (59)
Psychiatry	4.7 (6)	Were they satisfied?	63 (37)
Pediatrics	4.7 (6)	Have you used health services?	33 (42)
Physician/emergency medicine	3.9 (5)	Were you satisfied?	71 (30)
Obstetrics	3.1 (4)	Comfortable seeking university services	67 (85)
Anesthetics	3.1 (4)	Comfortable seeking services outside university	65 (82)
Forensics	0.8 (1)	Do you have a GP you can see?	63 (80)
Hematology	0.8 (1)
Oncology	0.8 (1)	Finances	n (%)
Ophthalmology	0.8 (1)	Concerned about finances: no	25 (19)
Pathology	0.8 (1)	Somewhat	79 (62)
No response	6.3 (8)	Very	23 (18)

Abbreviation: SD, standard deviation.

Table 2 Mean and standard deviation for males and females

Scale	Variable	Males			Females
		n	Mean	SD	n	Mean	SD	α
DSSI	Social interaction	32	7.7	1.5	91	7.3	1.4	0.22
	Satisfaction	32	18.7	2.1	91	18.5	2.1	0.70
	Social support, total	32	26.4	2.7	91	25.9	2.7	0.43
DASS	Depression	32	7.6	5.8	92	11.2*	10.4	0.88
	Anxiety	32	4.3	3.7	92	8.5*	9.4	0.86
	Stress	32	11.7	6.5	92	14.7*	9.6	0.84
K10	Psychological distress	31	16.8	4.3	91	20.6*	7.2	0.88
AUDIT	Alcohol use, total	31	6.7*	5.0	91	4.5	4.3	0.75
CUDIT	Cannabis use, last 6 months	7	–	–	5	–	–	–
RSES	Self-esteem	30	30.6*	3.6	91	28.4	5.8	0.87
SWLS	Satisfaction with life	30	22.7	7.3	91	23.3	7.6	0.91
Burnout	Emotional exhaustion	27	26.3	6.1	82	28.0	7.3	0.87
	Lack of personal accomplishment	27	21.9	5.7	82	22.4	6.5	0.86
	Depersonalization	27	11.6	3.7	82	12.8	4.7	0.79
	Burnout total	27	59.8	12.5	82	63.2	15.6	0.92
HPVS	Involved vs detached	25	127.8	11.0	82	134.9*	13.3	0.85
	Emotional resilience	25	71.3	7.9	82	68.2	12.9	0.91
	Self-control	25	70.3	9.5	82	75.3*	8.9	0.86

Note:

* Differences between sex mean scores is significant at P<0.05.

Abbreviations: SD, standard deviation; DSSI, Duke Social Support Index; DASS, Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scale; K10, Kessler Psychological Distress Scale; AUDIT, Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test; CUDIT, Cannabis Use Disorders Identification Test; RSES, Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale; SWLS, Satisfaction with Life Scale; HPVS, Health Professional Values Survey.

Table 3 Sample DASS and K10 scores compared to norm distributions

DASS	Male, % (n)			Female, % (n)
	Depression	Anxiety	Stress	Depression	Anxiety	Stress
Normal	72 (23)	75 (24)	75 (24)	54 (50)	60 (55)	61 (56)
Mild	6 (2)	13 (4)	9 (3)	14 (13)	7 (6)	9 (8)
Moderate	19 (6)	13 (4)	13 (4)	12 (11)	12 (11)	13 (12)
Severe	3 (1)	0	3 (1)	7 (7)	7 (6)	13 (12)
Extremely severe	0	0	0	12 (11)	15 (14)	4 (4)

K10	Sample % (n)	Male norms, %			Sample % (n)	Female norms, %
		Medical students	All students	All adults		Medical students	All students	All adults
Low (10–19)	77 (24)	51	63	75	48 (44)	41	57	67
Moderate (20–24)	19 (6)	31	32	19	24 (22)	34	31	23
High (25–29)	3 (1)	11	4	4	13 (12)	16	8	7
Very high (30–50)	0	7	1	2	14 (13)	10	5	4

Notes: K10 norms for medical students from Beyond Blue.¹³ “All students” and “all adults” norms from the National Survey of Mental Health and Wellbeing (2007) report, given in Beyond Blue.¹³

Abbreviations: DASS, Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scale; K10, Kessler Psychological Distress Scale.

Table 4 Significant correlations and regression models

Outcomes	Predictors
	Sex	Involvement	Emotional resilience	Self-control	Year of study, 1–5	Study/university, HPW	Paid work, HPW	Volunteer work, HPW	Exercise/physical activity, HPW	Finance concern	Social support	R^2 (adjusted)
Study/university, HPW				0.24/0.21	0.19/0.25	10.0						10.4
Used health services	0.27		−0.34/−0.30		0.23					0.18		13.3
AUDIT score	−0.22			−0.33/−0.31			0.24/0.23					17.4
Cannabis use, last 6 months	−0.26			−0.29/−0.25			0.31/0.29					17.4
K10 – psychological distress	0.24	−0.23	−0.68/−0.56	−0.34/−0.19		−0.25/−0.21			−0.28	0.27	−0.34	57.2
K10 – days not working/studying	0.19	−0.24	−0.33/−0.25	−0.28		−0.24						19.3
K10 – days cut down	0.21		−0.38/−0.29	−0.23					−0.21	0.27/0.22	−0.23	19.6
Depression	0.17	−0.20	−0.60/−0.48	−0.36/−0.25		−0.24/−0.18			−0.20	0.21	−0.35	44.2
Anxiety	0.22		−0.62/−0.64				0.19/0.22			0.21		44.2
Stress			−0.67/−0.64					0.24/0.22	−0.19	0.26	−0.20	46.8
Emotional exhaustion		−0.31	−0.59/−0.43	−0.26	0.19				−0.30		−0.44/−0.22	42.0
Lacking personal accomplishments		−0.34	−0.38/−0.20	−0.42/−0.27		−0.25			−0.22		−0.32	26.1
Depersonalization		−0.53/−0.48	−0.34/−0.18	−0.19					−0.20		−0.43/−0.19	36.1
Burnout total		−0.45/−0.23	−0.54/−0.35	−0.36					−0.29/−0.15		−0.48/−0.22	44.8
Self-esteem		0.20	0.69/0.57	0.27					0.22	−0.22	0.47/0.30	56.6
Satisfaction with life		0.22	0.48/0.32	0.33/0.21						−0.27	0.43/0.29	33.2
Physical health, past 5 years	−0.19		0.40/0.37						0.23			17.4
Current physical health	−0.19		0.33						0.26/0.20	−0.19/−0.21	0.21	17.2
Mental health, past 5 years	−0.19		0.65/0.60							−0.18	0.30	41.8
Current mental health	−0.19	0.20	0.64/0.53	0.22					0.23	−0.24	0.34	42.7

Notes: Blank, not significant; single coefficient, significant correlation; two coefficients, correlation/standardized β-value of significant unique predictor. Sex coded 1 for male, 2 for female.

Abbreviations: HPW, hours per week; AUDIT, Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test; K10, Kessler Psychological Distress Scale.

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Beyond BlueNational Mental Health Survey of Doctors and Medical StudentsMelbourneBeyond Blue2013 Available from: http://www.beyondblue.org.au/docs/default-source/research-project-files/bl1132-report---nmhdmss-full-report_webAccessed January 30, 2015

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