Assessment of life skills of medical students in Mashhad, Iran, in 2015

Authors

  • Maliheh Dadgarmoghaddam M.D, Community Medicine Specialist, Assistant Professor of Community Medicine, Department of Community Medicine, School of Medicine, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran

Keywords:

Social skills, Medical student, Smoking, Mental health, Critical thinking, Justicea

Abstract

Background: Developing social skills and mental health is a crucial part of the psychosocial health status of medical students.

Objective: The aim of this study was to assess the life skills of medical students in Mashhad University of Medical Sciences (MUMS).

Methods: This cross-sectional study was performed in Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Iran in 2015. By census method, 146 interns were entered into the study. The life skill questionnaire, consisting of 144 questions, was used as the measurement tool. Over 3 months, all the medical students in internship period were asked to complete the questionnaire. Data were analyzed by independent-samples t-test, one-way ANOVA, and Mann-Whitney with SPSS version 11.5 software.

Results: Women were shown to have higher decision-making ability than men (p=0.046).  It was also shown in the study that social behavior (p=0.018), participation in activities that improve benefits (p=0.006), critical thinking (p=0.007), observing and using safety points (p=0.005), and mental health status (p=0.034) were significantly lower in men than in women. The data also suggests that men (13.97±4.7249) are more likely to become global citizens than women (12.15±3.6298) (p=0.010). Furthermore, there was a significant difference when comparing smoking and non-smoking in freedom and justice (p=0.003) and becoming a global citizen (p=0.012).

Conclusion: Our study provides helpful information about medical students’ life skills for policy makers and university authorities. We suggest that gender differences should be considered during life skill training.

References

Aslinejhad M, Alemi A, Tajaddodi M. Life skills. Mashhad: Ney Negar; 2008: 34-51.

Cord Nooghabi R, Pashshrifi H. Preparation and collection the life skills curriculum for middle school

students. Educ Innov J. 2005; 12(2): 21-9.

Dyrbye LN, Thomas MR, Shanafelt TD. Systematic review of depression, anxiety, and other indicators of

psychological distress among US and Canadian medical students. Acad Med. 2006; 81(4): 354-73. doi:

1097/00001888-200604000-00009. PMID: 16565188.

Stewart SM, Betson C, Marshall I, Wong C, Lee P, Lam T. Stress and vulnerability in medical students.

Med Educ. 1995; 29(2): 119-27. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2923.1995.tb02814.x. PMID: 7623698.

Singh G, Hankins M, Weinman JA. Does medical school cause health anxiety and worry in medical

students? Med Educ. 2004; 38(5): 479-81. doi: 10.1046/j.1365-2929.2004.01813.x. PMID: 15107081.

Guthrie E, Black D, Shaw C, Hamilton J, Creed F, Tomenson B. Embarking upon a medical career:

psychological morbidity in first year medical students. Med Educ. 1995; 29(5): 337-41. doi:

1111/j.1365-2923.1995.tb00022.x. PMID: 8699970.

Aktekin M, Karaman T, Senol YY, Erdem S, Erengin H, Akaydin M. Anxiety, depression and stressful life

events among medical students: a prospective study in Antalya, Turkey. Med Educ. 2001; 35(1): 12-7. doi:

1046/j.1365-2923.2001.00726.x. PMID: 11123589.

Rosenthal JM, Okie S. White coat, mood indigo--depression in medical school. N Engl J Med. 2005;

(11): 1085-8. doi: 10.1056/NEJMp058183. PMID: 16162877.

Fergusson DM, Horwood LJ, Ridder EM, Beautrais AL. Subthreshold depression in adolescence and

mental health outcomes in adulthood. Arch Gen Psychiatry. 2005; 62(1): 66-72. doi:

1001/archpsyc.62.1.66. PMID: 15630074.

Fahrenkopf AM, Sectish TC, Barger LK, Sharek PJ, Lewin D, Chiang VW, et al. Rates of medication

errors among depressed and burnt out residents: prospective cohort study. BMJ. 2008; 336(7642): 488-91.

doi: 10.1136/bmj.39469.763218.BE. PMID: 18258931, PMCID: PMC2258399.

Jegannathan B, Dahlblom K, Kullgren G. Outcome of a school-based intervention to promote life-skills

among young people in Cambodia. Asian J Psychiatr. 2014; 9: 78-84. doi: 10.1016/j.ajp.2014.01.011.

PMID: 24813042.

Maryam E, Davoud MM, Zahra G. Effectiveness of life skills training on increasing self-esteem of high

school students. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences. 2011; 30: 1043-7. doi:

1016/j.sbspro.2011.10.203.

Sadr-Mohammadi R, Kalantari M, Molavi H. Efficacy of life skills training on subjective well-being of

students: A report from Rafsanjan, Iran. Iranian journal of psychiatry and behavioral sciences. 2014; 8(2):

PMID: 25053958, PMCID: PMC410560.

Niaz AK, Amuei F, Maddah MT, Barimani A. The study assessment life skills students of Islamic Azad

University of Sari branch. 2010; 1(3): 33-46.

Khushabi K, Nikkhah H, Moradi Sh. An investigation of the life skills knowledge among female students

of tehran city universities. Scientific Journal of Hamadan University of Medical Sciences. 2008; 15(3): 67- 72.

Valipour R, Salehi E. Students’ Life Skills in Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences. Iranian Journal

of Medical Education. 2012; 12(2): 93-100.

Khademlu A, Hasanzade R, Faran S. Theories and applications of psychological tests. 1st ed. Tehran:

Arasbaran; 2014.

Dyrbye LN, Thomas MR, Shanafelt TD. Medical student distress: causes, consequences, and proposed

solutions. Mayo Clinic Proceedings. Elsevier; 2005.

Moffat KJ, McConnachie A, Ross S, Morrison JM. First year medical student stress and coping in a

problem‐based learning medical curriculum. Med educ. 2004; 38(5): 482-91. doi: 10.1046/j.1365- 2929.2004.01814.x, PMID: 15107082.

Buchman BP, Sallis JF, Criqui MH, Dimsdale JE, Kaplan RM. Physical activity, physical fitness, and

psychological characteristics of medical students. J Psychosom Res. 1991; 35(2): 197-208. doi:

1016/0022-3999(91)90074-X. PMID: 2046053.

Tjia J, Givens JL, Shea JA. Factors associated with under treatment of medical student depression. J Am

Coll Health. 2005; 53(5): 219-24. doi: 10.3200/JACH.53.5.219-224. PMID: 15813232.

Hojat M, Glaser K, Xu G, Veloski JJ, Christian EB. Gender comparisons of medical students' psychosocial

profiles. Med Educ. 1999; 33(5): 342-9. doi: 10.1046/j.1365-2923.1999.00331.x. PMID: 10336769.

Katz J, Monnier J, Beach S, Libet J, Shaw D. Individual and crossover effects of stress on adjustment in

medical student marriages. J Marital Fam Ther. 2000; 26(3): 341-52. doi: 10.1111/j.1752- 0606.2000.tb00303.x. PMID: 10934680.

Dyrbye LN, Thomas MR, Shanafelt TD. Medical Student Distress: Causes, Consequences, and Proposed

Solutions. Mayo Clin Proc. 2005; 80(12): 1613-22. doi: 10.4065/80.12.1613. PMID: 16342655.

Dyrbye LN, Thomas MR, Huntington JL, Lawson KL, Novotny PJ, Sloan JA, et al. Personal life events

and medical student burnout: a multicenter study. Acad Med. 2006; 81(4): 374-84. doi: 10.1097/00001888- 200604000-00010. PMID: 16565189.

Law JK. Starting a family in medical school. JAMA. 1997; 277(9): 767. doi: 10.1001/jama.277.9.767.

PMID: 9042854.

Rosal MC, Ockene IS, Ockene JK, Barrett SV, Ma Y, Hebert JR. A longitudinal study of students'

depression at one medical school. Acad Med. 1997; 72(6): 542-6. doi: 10.1097/00001888-199706000- 00022. PMID: 9200590.

Botvin GJ, Kantor LW. Preventing alcohol and tobacco use through life skills training. Alcohol Res Health.

; 24(4): 250-7. PMID: 15986720.

Flay BR. School-based smoking prevention programs with the promise of long-term effects. Tob Induc Dis.

; 5(6): 18. doi: 10.1186/1617-9625-5-6.

Published

2022-02-12