Life satisfaction and resilience in medical school – a six-year longitudinal, nationwide and comparative study

Abstract

BackgroundThis study examined the relationship between life satisfaction among medical students and a basic model of personality, stress and coping. Previous studies have shown relatively high levels of distress, such as symptoms of depression and suicidal thoughts in medical undergraduates. However despite the increased focus on positive psychological health and well-being during the past decades, only a few studies have focused on life satisfaction and coping in medical students. This is the first longitudinal study which has identified predictors of sustained high levels of life satisfaction among medical students.MethodsThis longitudinal, nationwide questionnaire study examined the course of life satisfaction during medical school, compared the level of satisfaction of medical students with that of other university students, and identified resilience factors. T-tests were used to compare means of life satisfaction between and within the population groups. K-means cluster analyses were applied to identify subgroups among the medical students. Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) and logistic regression analyses were used to compare the subgroups.ResultsLife satisfaction decreased during medical school. Medical students were as satisfied as other students in the first year of study, but reported less satisfaction in their graduation year. Medical students who sustained high levels of life satisfaction perceived medical school as interfering less with their social and personal life, and were less likely to use emotion focused coping, such as wishful thinking, than their peers.ConclusionMedical schools should encourage students to spend adequate time on their social and personal lives and emphasise the importance of health-promoting coping strategies.

Development of life satisfaction in young physicians: results of the prospective SwissMedCareer Study

“…As other authors do not report domain-specific results (Kjeldstadli et al 2006;Tyssen et al 2009), we cannot compare our findings to other studies.…”

“…Restrictively, this sample includes doctors of all ages. In a Norwegian prospective study (Kjeldstadli et al 2006) a decrease of life satisfaction during medical school is reported. Both samples cannot be compared with our study sample.…”

“…In particular, we applied a domain-specific life satisfaction questionnaire. In several studies on life satisfaction in physicians only a one-item question is used (Kjeldstadli et al 2006;Nylenna et al 2005;Tyssen et al 2009). …”

“…Most studies on this topic are cross-sectional. Only few studies report on physicians' levels of life satisfaction prospectively (Nylenna et al 2005) and compare the data with those of the general population (Kjeldstadli et al 2006;Tyssen et al 2009). Gender-related differences in the physicians' assessment of life satisfaction are reported controversially.…”

Prevalence of Depression; A Cross-Sectional Study Among MBBS Students of Sargodha Medical College, Sargodha Pakistan

“…5 Depression affect students both professionally and personally, which result in diminished life satisfaction among students. 6 A literature review identified only a few studies conducted in Pakistan on depression among medical students. 4,7,8,9,10,11 As there is a lack of data regarding prevalence of depression and the role of precipitating factors of depression among medical students in Pakistan so, the present study was undertaken to look for prevalence of depression among medical students of Sargodha Medical College, Sargodha, Punjab Pakistan, using a diagnostic tool i.e., Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9) 12 for depression, associations of depression with demographic and educational characteristics and the extent to which stressors predict depression.…”