Maladaptive Perfectionism, Impostor Phenomenon, and Suicidal Ideation Among Medical Students

Imposter Phenomenon in US Physicians Relative to the US Working Population

“…How do these findings compare with those of previous studies? Studies of US medical students suggest that 20% to 50% of US medical students have substantial IP expereinces, 28,31,49 with some studies indicating higher scores in women medical students than men. 28,31,49 A similar prevalence has been observed in US residents.…”

“…Studies of US medical students suggest that 20% to 50% of US medical students have substantial IP expereinces, 28,31,49 with some studies indicating higher scores in women medical students than men. 28,31,49 A similar prevalence has been observed in US residents. 50,51 A longitudinal study of US medical students found that IP scores increased between matriculation and the end of third-year clerkships.…”

“…[22][23][24][25][26][27] Studies in US medical students have revealed that more than 1 in 4 medical students experience IP and that those experiencing IP are at higher risk for burnout. 23,[28][29][30][31] Because times of transition are a risk factor for IP, the frequent rotation between clerkships and being a "perpetual novice" during medical school training may contribute to the high prevalence. 32 Despite these studies suggesting that IP is a problem early in the physician training process, there is limited information on IP among physicians in practice.…”

Perfeccionismo, sintomatologia depressiva e acontecimentos de vida negativos na ideação suicida em jovens-adultos

“…Mais recentemente, Jonge-Heesen et al (2021) também vão ao encontro com os estudos precedentes, defendendo que elevados níveis de perfeccionismo, estão relacionados com um aumento de tendência suicida. Brennan-Wydra et al (2021) enaltecem que existe uma associação positiva e significativa entre o perfeccionismo desadaptativo e a ideação suicida.…”

The Mediating Effect of Social Problem-Solving Between Perfectionism and Subjective Well-Being

“…They would be more inclined to strive for flawlessness, which is not feasible in real life, so they often censor themselves for facing "failure, " for example, "when faced with a difficult problem, I do not think I can solve it no matter how hard I try" (D'Zurilla et al, 2004). Furthermore, maladaptive perfectionists were more likely to feel ashamed of their failures and thus more likely to engage in maladaptive behaviors such as bad spending or even suicide (Brennan-Wydra et al, 2021;Chang et al, 2021). According to this logic, maladaptive perfectionist would be more likely to avoid problems in order to avoid failure, or often cope with stress in a negative way, which could lead to stress and anxiety if the task fails (Santanello and Gardner, 2007;Mofield et al, 2016).…”