Medical Students' Use of Different Coping Strategies and Relationship With Academic Performance in Preclinical and Clinical Years

Abstract

Students varied widely in use of coping mechanisms. Over time, students shifted to using emotional strategies more frequently while decreasing their use of active strategies. Coping strategies were unrelated to preclinical academic performance (R = .09, adjusted R = .04, ns) but were related to clinical performance (R = .23, adjusted R = .18, p < .0001), with active coping associated with higher performance and emotional methods associated with lower performance. Insights: Students decreased use of active coping strategies and increased use of emotional coping strategies over time, but emotional strategies were associated with poorer clinical academic performance. These shifts in coping methods may be detrimental to student performance and learning. Improving students' ability to cope should be an educational priority.

Stress and coping strategies of medical students during their first clinical practice – a pilot study

“…Active coping is considered a better way to deal with stress, while avoidance coping is considered as a psychological risk factor for adverse responses to stressful life events. The research showed that students apply various combinations of dealing with difficult situations, from avoidance behaviours to problem solving [7,[9][10][11][12][13][14]. Okumura et al claimed that strategies may depend on individual stress tolerance [15].…”

Associations between Lifestyle Behaviors and Stress Related Symptoms in Senior Medical Students of the University of Osijek, Eastern Croatia

“…These problems are even more emphasised in medical students, because studying medicine is associated with demanding courses and work schedules which may cause chronic stress and do not leave much time for resting and extracurricular activities (Schiller et al, 2017). Proportions of anxiety and depression and different types of psychological distress were found to be higher in medical students than in age-matched peers and gener al populat ion (Dyrbyeet al, 2006).…”

“…A significant amount of available literature deal with stress related reactions and adjustment disorders of the first year medical students, while this issue in senior medical students has rarely been tackled (Heinen et al, 2017). An intriguing thing that might compromise results of such research is that senior medical students, distinctly from novices, have had enough time to develop also positive in addition to negative behavioral adaptation strategies and that they might have developed some signs of mental and global health decline (Schiller et al, 2017).…”

The Development and Implementation of a Longitudinal Wellness Curriculum for McGill University’s Undergraduate Medical Program

“…As part of these activities, students attend a Wellness lecture facilitated by the Wellness Consultant on cognitive behavioral strategies to deal with common stressors during clerkship. At this point of the program, given that over time and particularly during the 3rd year, medical students decrease their use of active coping strategies and start using avoidant strategies,[40] a lecture on constructive and active coping strategies was deemed to be particularly relevant. Previous research has demonstrated that avoidant strategies are associated with both poorer academic performance in the clinical years and poorer mental health[40].…”

“…At this point of the program, given that over time and particularly during the 3rd year, medical students decrease their use of active coping strategies and start using avoidant strategies,[40] a lecture on constructive and active coping strategies was deemed to be particularly relevant. Previous research has demonstrated that avoidant strategies are associated with both poorer academic performance in the clinical years and poorer mental health[40]. During this week, students can also self-select to attend a financial workshop on residency applications and elective planning.…”