The Relationship between Personality Traits with Depressive Symptoms and Suicidal Ideation among Medical Students: A Cross-Sectional Study at One Medical School in Germany

• Published in: International journal of environmental research and public health 2018-07, Vol.15 (7), p.1462
• Main Authors: Chow, Winnie S, Schmidtke, Jan, Loerbroks, Adrian, Muth, Thomas, Angerer, Peter
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adult; Alcohol; Anxiety; Comorbidity; Confidence intervals; Cross-Sectional Studies; Demographics; Depression - physiopathology; Depression - psychology; Enrollments; Female; Germany; Health problems; Health risks; Health Surveys; Humans; Learning; Male; Medical schools; Medical students; Mental depression; Mental disorders; Mental Health; Mental health care; Multivariate analysis; Personality; Personality traits; Psychiatry; Schools, Medical; Sleep; Social factors; Statistical analysis; Stress; Students; Students, Medical - psychology; Studies; Suicidal Ideation; Suicides & suicide attempts; Systematic review; Well being; Young Adult
• ISSN: 1660-4601; 1661-7827; 1660-4601
• DOI: 10.3390/ijerph15071462

Medical students are at increased risk of experiencing mental health problems. Certain personality traits may be associated with elevated vulnerability to study-related stress and poor mental health. This study aimed to investigate the relationship between such personality traits and mental health outcomes among medical students. We drew on cross-sectional data from 251 medical students who had been enrolled for one-year at a medical school in Germany. Depressive symptoms were measured using the Patient Health Questionnaire-8 (PHQ-8) and suicidal ideation was assessed by item 9 from the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9). Personality traits were captured using the Business-Focused Inventory of Personality 6 Factors (BIP-6F). Multivariable logistic regression analyses were used to quantify the associations between work-related personality factors and mental health outcomes, controlling for demographic and social factors. Odds ratios (ORs) as outcome measures with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were used. After controlling for important confounders, medical students who scored highly on Stability had lower odds of depressive symptoms (OR: 0.19, 95% CI: 0.09⁻0.42, < 0.001) and suicidality (OR: 0.38, 95% CI: 0.16⁻0.87, < 0.05) than those with high scores in other work-related personality factors. Findings also showed that those who scored highly on Dominance had greater odds of depressive symptoms (OR: 2.46, 95% CI: 1.22⁻4.97), < 0.01). Work-related personality-informed interventions, which promote students' mental well-being and reduce academic stress should be considered at various stages of their medical training.