ArticleBMC medical education2017
A cross-sectional examination of psychological distress, positive mental health and their predictors in medical students in their clinical clerkships.
Article in BMC medical education, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 16 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
16 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Measuring medical student wellbeing longitudinally: a psychometric systematic review of commonly used scales.Canadian medical education journal · 2026Pooled it
- Clinical training under movement restriction: checkpoint burden, burnout, and intentions to train abroad among medical students in Palestine.BMC medical education · 2026Article
- "Unveiling the burden: mental health challenges and coping strategies among moroccan medical students".BMC medical education · 2025Article
- Psychometric Properties and the Network Analysis of the Turkish Version of the Multidimensional Flourishing Scale: Associations with Psychological Distress.Behavioral sciences (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- The influence of emotional intelligence, sociodemographic and academic factors on mental health of nursing students in the Fez-Meknes region of Morocco.Journal of education and health promotion · 2025Article
- The Brief Symptom Inventory in the Swiss general population: Presentation of norm scores and predictors of psychological distress.PloS one · 2024Article
- The relationship between the burnout syndrome and academic success of medical students: a cross-sectional study.Arhiv za higijenu rada i toksikologiju · 2023Article
- Learning in and across communities of practice: health professions education students' learning from boundary crossing.Advances in health sciences education : theory and practice · 2022Article
- The Appraisal of Self-Care Agency Scale-Revised (ASAS-R): Reliability and Validity among Portuguese Medical Students.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2022Article
- Employment Industry and Occupational Class in Relation to Serious Psychological Distress in the United States.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2022Article
- Neighborhood social cohesion and serious psychological distress among Asian, Black, Hispanic/Latinx, and White adults in the United States: a cross-sectional study.BMC public health · 2022Article
- "Getting better at getting better": How Sharing Mental Health Stories Can Shape Young People's Wellbeing.Community mental health journal · 2021Article
- Mindfulness-based intervention helps preclinical medical students to contain stress, maintain mindfulness and improve academic success.BMC medical education · 2021Article
- The mediating role of psychological capital on the relation between distress and empathy of medical residents: a cross-sectional survey.Medical education online · 2020Article
- Medical students' resilience: a protective role on stress and quality of life in clerkship.BMC medical education · 2019Article
- Performing Under Pressure: Varsity Athletes Excel in Medical School.Medical science educator · 2019Article
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4 authors.
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Abstract
backgroundMedical students can experience the transition from theory to clinical clerkships as stressful. Scientific literature on the mental health of clinical clerkship students is scarce and mental health is usually defined as absence of psychological distress without assessing psychological, emotional and social wellbeing, together called 'positive mental health'. This cross-sectional study examines the prevalence of psychological distress and positive mental health and explores possible predictors in a Dutch sample of clinical clerkship students.
methodsFourth-year medical students in their first year of clinical clerkships were invited to complete an online questionnaire assessing demographics, psychological distress (Brief Symptom Inventory), positive mental health (Mental Health Continuum- SF), dysfunctional cognitions (Irrational Beliefs Inventory) and dispositional mindfulness skills (Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire). Multiple linear regression analysis was used to explore relationships between psychological distress, positive mental health (dependent variables) and demographics, dysfunctional cognitions and dispositional mindfulness skills (predictors).
resultsOf 454 eligible students, 406 (89%) completed the assessment of whom 21% scored in the clinical range of psychological distress and 41% reported a flourishing mental health. These proportions partially overlap each other. Female students reported a significantly higher mean level of psychological distress than males. In the regression analysis the strongest predictors of psychological distress were 'acting with awareness' (negative) and 'worrying' (positive). Strongest predictors of positive mental health were 'problem avoidance' (negative) and 'emotional irresponsibility' (negative).
conclusionsThe prevalence of psychopathology in our sample of Dutch clinical clerkship students is slightly higher than in the general population. Our results support conclusions of previous research that psychological distress and positive mental health are not two ends of one continuum but partially overlap. Although no conclusion on causality can be drawn, this study supports the idea that self-awareness and active, nonavoidant coping strategies are related to lower distress and higher positive mental health.
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