The Relationship between Personality Traits with Depressive Symptoms and Suicidal Ideation among Medical Students: A Cross-Sectional Study at One Medical School in Germany

Winnie S Chow, Jan Schmidtke, Adrian Loerbroks, Thomas Muth and Peter Angerer
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Winnie S Chow: Institute of Occupational, Social and Environmental Medicine, Centre for Health and Society, Faculty of Medicine, University of Düsseldorf, 40225 Düsseldorf, Germany
Jan Schmidtke: Institute of Occupational, Social and Environmental Medicine, Centre for Health and Society, Faculty of Medicine, University of Düsseldorf, 40225 Düsseldorf, Germany
Adrian Loerbroks: Institute of Occupational, Social and Environmental Medicine, Centre for Health and Society, Faculty of Medicine, University of Düsseldorf, 40225 Düsseldorf, Germany
Thomas Muth: Institute of Occupational, Social and Environmental Medicine, Centre for Health and Society, Faculty of Medicine, University of Düsseldorf, 40225 Düsseldorf, Germany
Peter Angerer: Institute of Occupational, Social and Environmental Medicine, Centre for Health and Society, Faculty of Medicine, University of Düsseldorf, 40225 Düsseldorf, Germany

IJERPH, 2018, vol. 15, issue 7, 1-11

Abstract: Medical students are at increased risk of experiencing mental health problems. Certain personality traits may be associated with elevated vulnerability to study-related stress and poor mental health. This study aimed to investigate the relationship between such personality traits and mental health outcomes among medical students. We drew on cross-sectional data from 251 medical students who had been enrolled for one-year at a medical school in Germany. Depressive symptoms were measured using the Patient Health Questionnaire-8 (PHQ-8) and suicidal ideation was assessed by item 9 from the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9). Personality traits were captured using the Business-Focused Inventory of Personality 6 Factors (BIP-6F). Multivariable logistic regression analyses were used to quantify the associations between work-related personality factors and mental health outcomes, controlling for demographic and social factors. Odds ratios (ORs) as outcome measures with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were used. After controlling for important confounders, medical students who scored highly on Stability had lower odds of depressive symptoms (OR: 0.19, 95% CI: 0.09–0.42, p < 0.001) and suicidality (OR: 0.38, 95% CI: 0.16–0.87, p < 0.05) than those with high scores in other work-related personality factors. Findings also showed that those who scored highly on Dominance had greater odds of depressive symptoms (OR: 2.46, 95% CI: 1.22–4.97), p < 0.01). Work-related personality-informed interventions, which promote students’ mental well-being and reduce academic stress should be considered at various stages of their medical training.

Keywords: mental health; medical students; academic stress; personality traits; depressive symptoms; suicidal ideation (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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