Effects of Academic and Psychosocial Predictors of Performance in Medical School on Coefficients of Determination

Abstract

This study was designed to answer the following questions: (1) Does a set of selected noncognitive variables predict medical school performance measures? (2) Is there a significant increase in the coefficients of determination when noncognitive measures are added to the conventional cognitive predictors in regression models? Complete data on all measures were available for 88 sophomore medical students. Cognitive (academic) predictors were undergraduate GPA in science and nonscience courses, and scores on science problems, reading and quantitative scales of the Medical College Admission Test. Noncognitive (psychological) predictors were scores on scales of stressful life events, general anxiety, test anxiety, emotionality, external locus of control, intensity and chronicity of loneliness, sociability, self-esteem, perception of early relationships with mother, father and peers, and indices of over- and underconfidence. Criterion measures were freshman and sophomore GPAs in medical school and scores on Part I of the National Board examinations. Results indicate that (1) noncognitive predictors could significantly predict criterion measures and (2) inclusion of noncognitive measures in a model of cognitive predictors could substantially increase the magnitude of the relationships.

Asocial and afraid: An examination of shyness and anxiety in emerging adulthood

“…For instance, Nelson et al (2008) found that compared to nonshy young people, shy emerging adults reported: (a) being more anxious and depressed; (b) having lower levels of self-esteem and self-perceptions of their social acceptance; physical appearance, and romantic relationships; and (c) experiencing poorer relationship quality with parents, best friends, and romantic partners than did their non-shy peers. Further indication that shyness might impede important features of the emerging-adult years is seen by work revealing that compared to their nonshy peers, shy emerging adults tend to: (a) have lower career identity levels, and, in general, less mature attitudes toward career planning and exploration (Hamer & Bruch, 1997); (b) engage in less dating (Leck, 2006); (c) have more academic struggles (Hojat, Vogel, Zeleznik, & Borenstein, 1988); (d) experience greater loneliness in the transition to college (Mounts et al, 2006); and (e) report lower levels of happiness (Neto, 2001).…”

Personality assessments and outcomes in medical education and the practice of medicine: AMEE Guide No. 79

“…Third, in response to the notion of redundancy or overlapping cognitive and noncognitive aspects of performance, we have shown that the two constructs of academic aptitudes and personality are separate entities (Hojat et al 1988) that uniquely contribute to prediction of performance in undergraduate (Hojat et al 1988) and graduate (Hojat et al 1996a) medical education outcomes. In other words, they are complementary, not redundant.…”

“…appraisal of stressful life events, general anxiety and test anxiety, external locus of control, intensity and chronicity of loneliness experiences, extraversion, self-esteem, perceptions of early relationships with parents and peers and measures of over-or underconfidence) could significantly predict performance on medical licensing examinations (Hojat et al 1988). Also, we found that higher scores on measures of self-esteem and extraversion, lower scores on loneliness, and perceptions of satisfactory relationship with parents in childhood (Hojat et al 2004a) could predict global ratings of clinical competence in core clerkships in medical school.…”

“…Also, we found that higher scores on measures of self-esteem and extraversion, lower scores on loneliness, and perceptions of satisfactory relationship with parents in childhood (Hojat et al 2004a) could predict global ratings of clinical competence in core clerkships in medical school. Furthermore, inclusion of a set of the aforementioned personality measures to the prediction model could substantially increase (from 0.32 to 0.56) the magnitude of correlations between academic attainment predictors already in the statistical model ( previous academic grades and scores of the Medical College Admission Test, the MCAT) and the criterion measure (scores on Part 1 of the examinations of the National Board of Medical Examiners) (Hojat et al 1988).…”

Empathy in Patient Care

“…In longitudinal studies of medical students, my colleagues and I have shown that measures of personal qualities (e.g., sociability, satisfactory interpersonal relationships, and self-esteem) and measures of academic aptitude (e.g., grade-point averages, and MCAT scores) can equally predict performance measures in the first 2 years of medical school. However, the measures of personal qualities could predict ratings of clinical performance in the third year of medical school more accurately than grade-point averages or MCAT scores Hojat, Vogel, Zeleznik, & Borenstein, 1988). In other words, incremental validity can be improved significantly by including indicators of interpersonal skills and measures of personal qualities in multiple regression models .…”