ArticleBMC medical education2019
The relationship between perfectionism and symptoms of depression in medical school applicants.
Article in BMC medical education, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 13 papers.
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Who cites it
13 citing papers in PubMed, 25 citations in OpenAlex.
- Prevalence, Digital Tools, and Management Strategies for Depression in Medical Students: A Narrative Review.Advances in medical education and practice · 2026Review
- Mindfulness, Self-Compassion, and Perfectionism in Physician Assistant Students: Implications for Wellness Curricula.Medical science educator · 2025Article
- Mental health disorder in chronic liver disease: a questionnaire survey.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2024Article
- Protocol for a 2-year longitudinal study of eating disturbances, mental health problems and overuse injuries in rock climbers (CLIMB).BMJ open · 2023Article
- The relationship between perfectionism, self-perception of orofacial appearance, and mental health in college students.Frontiers in public health · 2023Article
- Academic Perfectionism, Psychological Well-Being, and Suicidal Ideation in College Students.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2022Article
- A longitudinal cohort study observed increasing perfectionism and declining resilience, ambiguity tolerance and calling during medical school which is not explained by student personality.BMC medical education · 2022Article
- Article
- Prevalence of Second Victims, Risk Factors, and Support Strategies among German Nurses (SeViD-II Survey).International journal of environmental research and public health · 2021Article
- Associations Between Maladaptive Perfectionism and Life Satisfaction Among Chinese Undergraduate Medical Students: The Mediating Role of Academic Burnout and the Moderating Role of Self-Esteem.Frontiers in psychology · 2021Article
- Need for cognitive closure, tolerance for ambiguity, and perfectionism in medical school applicants.BMC medical education · 2020Article
- Parenting Style and Emotional Distress Among Chinese College Students: A Potential Mediating Role of the Zhongyong Thinking Style.Frontiers in psychology · 2020Article
- Elevated psychological distress in undergraduate and graduate entry students entering first year medical school.PloS one · 2020Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
2 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
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Abstract
backgroundThe association between perfectionism and depression in the medical profession can ultimately influence physicians' performance negatively. In medical students, especially maladaptive perfectionism is connected with distress and lower academic performance. The expression of perfectionism and symptoms of depression at the time of medical school application is not known. Therefore, we explored perfectionism and symptoms of depression in participants of multiple mini-interviews for medical school admission and investigated possible differences between applicants who were eventually admitted or rejected.
methodsAfter the multiple mini-interviews admission procedure at Hamburg Medical School in August 2018, 146 applicants filled out a questionnaire including sociodemographic data and the following validated instruments: Multidimensional Perfectionism Scale by Hewitt and Flett (MPS-H), Multidimensional Perfectionism Scale by Frost (MPS-F), Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9), Generalized Anxiety Disorder Scale (GAD-7), and a 10-item version of the Big Five Inventory (BFI-10). The two groups of admitted and rejected applicants were compared and the correlation between symptoms of depression and perfectionism further explored.
resultsThe admitted applicants were significantly more extrovert and had lower depression scores compared to the rejected applicants. In both groups, the composite scales of Adaptive Perfectionism (r = .21, p = .011) and Maladaptive Perfectionism (r = .43, p < .001) as well as their components correlated significantly with the PHQ-9 results. Maladaptive Perfectionism accounted for about 18% of variance in the PHQ-9 score.
conclusionsRejected medical school applicants who participated in a multiple mini-interviews admission procedure showed higher levels of depression symptoms than admitted applicants. The degree of depressive symptoms can be partly explained by Maladaptive Perfectionism scores. Since coping in medical school and in postgraduate medical education require robust mental health, perfectionism questionnaires could be an additional tool in medical school selection processes.
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