Anxiety, depression and stressful life events among medical students: a prospective study in Antalya, Turkey
- 4 January 2001
- journal article
- Published by Wiley in Medical Education
- Vol. 35 (1), 12-17
- https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1365-2923.2001.00726.x
Abstract
To assess psychological changes in medical students in Antalya, Turkey during their undergraduate education. The first-year follow-up outcomes are presented in this article. All first-year undergraduate students were given a detailed, self-report questionnaire and another in the second year. They were asked to complete the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ), the Spielberger State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) and the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI). The Faculties of Medicine, Economics and Physical Education (PE) of the Akdeniz University, Antalya, Turkey. All first-year undergraduate students in the Faculties of Medicine, Economics and PE who were registered in 1996. The findings showed that psychological test scores on the GHQ, the STAI and the BDI rose significantly in medical students between the first and second years. Using the GHQ, with different cut-off scores, the percentage of students scoring above the thresholds was higher in medical students in year 2, compared with economics and PE students. In addition, the scores for some stressful life events of medical students showed a significant rise from year 1 to year 2. Multiple regression analyses indicated that some stressful life events related to social activities were associated with the psychological test scores for medical students. The results indicate that there is a decrease in the psychological health of first-year medical students. Some inadequacies in the social activities of the students might play a role in this type of disturbance.Keywords
This publication has 11 references indexed in Scilit:
- Psychological stress and burnout in medical students: a five-year prospective longitudinal studyJournal of the Royal Society of Medicine, 1998
- Stress and depressed mood in medical students, law students, and graduate students at McGill UniversityAcademic Medicine, 1997
- Life events and anxiety in Chinese medical studentsSocial psychiatry. Sozialpsychiatrie. Psychiatrie sociale, 1997
- Embarking upon a medical career: psychological morbidity in first year medical studentsMedical Education, 1995
- Stress and vulnerability in medical studentsMedical Education, 1995
- Psychological Symptoms and their Course in First-Year Medical Students as Assessed by the Interval General Health Questionnaire (I–GHQ)The British Journal of Psychiatry, 1991
- Levels and sources of stress in medical students.BMJ, 1986
- Validity of the General Health Questionnaire in a Yugoslav student populationPsychological Medicine, 1983
- The assessment and remediation of dysfunctional stress in medical schoolAcademic Medicine, 1981
- Medical education: a student perspectiveMedical Education, 1979