The Relationship between Social Support and Psychiatric Symptomatology in Medical Students

Abstract

This study investigated the relationship between social support and psychiatric symptomatology among 82 first-year medical students at the University of Texas Medical School at Houston. A questionnaire was administered at several points during the medical school year. This questionnaire included the Hopkins Symptom Checklist and a measure of social support adapted for this study. It was hypothesized that social support and psychiatric symptomatology would be negatively correlated, i.e., that students who described themselves as experiencing more social support would be less symptomatic. The data supported this hypothesis at the beginning of the school year. However, by midyear, social support and symptomatology were positively correlated with each other. These findings, in conjunction with a few isolated studies in the social support literature, led the authors to conclude that in certain settings such as medical school, social ties may present competing demands on an individual''s time and energy which have potentially detrimental as well as beneficial effects on mental health. In addition, the findings suggested that the relationship of social support to psychiatric symptomatology may change over time, that there are gender differences in the relationship, and that there may be an interaction between demographic factors, such as gender and marital status, and social support.