ArticleSaudi medical journal2020
Burnout and imposter syndrome among Saudi young adults. The strings in the puppet show of psychological morbidity.
Article in Saudi medical journal, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 20 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
20 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 39 citations in OpenAlex.
- Global prevalence of imposter syndrome in health service providers: a systematic review and meta-analysis.BMC psychology · 2025Pooled it
- Divergent trajectories of psychological distress during the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic in Japan.Scientific reports · 2026Article
- Structural and concurrent validity of the short 10-item Arabic clance impostor phenomenon scale: A follow-up validation against the original 20-item tool.Journal of family medicine and primary care · 2026Article
- Prevalence of imposter phenomenon among chiropractic students at a South African university: A cross-sectional survey.The Journal of chiropractic education · 2026Article
- Impostor phenomenon among Saudi university students: associations with maladaptive perfectionism, self-efficacy, and psychological well-being.Frontiers in psychology · 2026Article
- The Prevalence of Imposter Syndrome and Its Association with Psychological Distress: A Cross-Sectional Study.Behavioral sciences (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Struggling with Self-Doubt: Impostor Phenomenon and Mental Health among Medical Students at Universitas Sumatera Utara Medan, Indonesia.Clinical practice and epidemiology in mental health : CP & EMH · 2025Article
- Severity of imposter syndrome associated with resilience, self-esteem, and depression among medical students in Thailand.Frontiers in public health · 2025Article
- Prevalence of imposter syndrome and its association with depression, stress, and anxiety among nursing students: a multi-center cross-sectional study.BMC nursing · 2024Article
- Investigating the association between resilience and impostor syndrome in undergraduate nursing and medical students: a cross-sectional study.Journal of medicine and life · 2024Article
- Impostor phenomenon: Prevalence among 1st year medical students and strategies for mitigation.Heliyon · 2024Article
- The impact of imposter syndrome on self-esteem and intention to quit among respiratory therapy (RT) students in Saudi Arabia.SAGE open medicine · 2024Article
- Interventions addressing the impostor phenomenon: a scoping review.Frontiers in psychology · 2024Article
- Article
- Prevalence and Predictor of Impostor Phenomenon Among Medical Students at Jouf University, Saudi Arabia.Cureus · 2023Article
- Self-doubt masked in success: Identifying the prevalence of impostor phenomenon among undergraduate dental students at Qassim University.Journal of Taibah University Medical Sciences · 2023Article
- Article
- Imposter Syndrome Relation to Gender Across Osteopathic Medical Schools.Medical science educator · 2022Article
- Burnout, Depression, and Anxiety Levels among Healthcare Workers Serving Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder.Behavioral sciences (Basel, Switzerland) · 2022Article
- Assessment of Impostor Phenomenon in Student Pharmacists and Faculty at Two Doctor of Pharmacy Programs.American journal of pharmaceutical education · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
5 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectivesTo determine the prevalence of imposter syndrome (IS) among Saudi adults and its association with burnout.
methodsUsing non-probability convenience sampling, we carried out a cross-sectional analytical study among adults in Northern Saudi Arabia. Data collection toll was a self-administered questionnaire containing young imposter scale (YIS), Maslach burnout inventory (MBI) and depression, anxiety, and stress scale 21 (DASS 21). These 3 scales are valid and reliable measurement tools for measuring IS, burnout, and psychological morbidity.
resultsIn the study sample (n=384), imposterism was present among 222 adults (57.8%). Moderate and severe symptoms of depression were present in 217 (56.5%), symptoms of stress in 210 (54.7%), and symptoms of anxiety in 126 (32.8%). Burnout was measured in 3 domains of depersonalization, emotion exhaustion, and personal accomplishments. High degree of depersonalization was found in 221 (57.6%), higher emotional exhaustion in 246 (64.1%) while lower personal accomplishment was present in 126 (32.8%). We found statistical association between IS and gender (p less than 0.01), depression (p less than 0.001) stress (p less than 0.001) and all 3 domains of burnout (p less than 0.01). Imposter syndrome was not found associated with anxiety (p=0.97). Young imposter scale score was associated with all the 3 domains of burnout even after controlling for depression, anxiety, and stress.
conclusionImposter syndrome is frequent among Saudi adults and associated with all 3 burnout domains. Mental health domains like burnout, depression, stress, and anxiety were found associated with IS.
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