The relationships among self-care, dispositional mindfulness, and psychological distress in medical students

Abstract

BackgroundPast research suggests that medical students experience high levels of psychological distress.ObjectiveThe aim of the current study was to investigate the relationships among engagement in self-care behaviours, dispositional mindfulness, and psychological distress.MethodsThe sample consisted of 139 female and 68 male Australian medical students (N=207) aged 17–41 years (M=21.82, SD=3.62) across the 5 years of the Monash University medical course. Participants completed an online survey comprising a demographics questionnaire, the Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire, the Health-Promoting Lifestyle Profile II, and the Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scales.ResultsResults revealed significant and interpretable multivariate correlations between distress and both mindfulness and self-care. Furthermore, the dispositional mindfulness observation subscale was found to be a significant moderator of the relationship between several dimensions of self-care and psychological distress.ConclusionsThe present study points to the potential of self-care and mindfulness to decrease medical student distress and enhance well-being.

Antecedente de Ansiedade, Síndrome do Pânico ou Depressão e Análise do Impacto na Qualidade de Vida em Estudantes de Medicina

“…Há relato da implantação, com sucesso, de técnicas de relaxamento e massagens, melhora da autoestima e formas de lidar com estresse que parecem estar relacionadas à melhora no bem-estar do estudante de Medicina (Ranjbarkohn & Sajadinejad, 2010;Rong, Glozier, & Luscombe, 2011;Slonim, Kienhuis, Di Benedetto, & Reece, 2015;Velayudhan & Gayatridevi, 2010).…”

Editorial: Why mindfulness matters in medical education

“…(19) At Monash University, we found that for our students it is associated with significantly enhanced student mental health even during high-stress assessment periods of the semester (20), and greater self-care. (21) Studies have shown that mindfulness can improve memory and learning in university students (22) and help them to cope with exam anxiety. (23) It also seems to improve mental flexibility and problem-solving, (24) as well as reducing clinical errors, and the cognitive biases commonly found behind diagnostic errors.…”

Estilos De Vida De Estudiantes Universitarios De Ciencias De La Salud

“…Ybarra Sargarduy (2011) en un estudio titulado "Salud Mental y Estilos de Vida en Estudiantes Universitarios" sostiene que uno de cada cinco alumnos universitarios participantes, presenta alteraciones de salud mental; el consumo de tabaco y/o drogas, aparece como un factor de riesgo en las alteraciones de la salud mental, mientras que la actividad física, destaca como un factor de protección 32 . Jessica Slonim y colaboradores (2015), sostuvo que el cuidado de uno mismo en dimensiones como: salud, actividad física, nutrición, espiritualidad, entre otros; potencian el bienestar mental y disminuyen la angustia 33 . La tabla 1, muestra los 19 artículos con resultados de investigación en estilos de vida; destacándose la procedencia, las fortalezas y las debilidades de cada uno.…”

“…The relationships among self-care, dispositional mindfulness, and psychological distress in medical students 33 .…”