Background. Medical school is recognized as a stressful environment that often has a negative effect on students' academic performance, physical health, and psychosocial well-being. Previous studies have not identified differences between depressed and nondepressed and anxious and nonanxious medical students' experiences of stress or their reactions to stressors. The present study aimed to identify the prevalence of depression and anxiety among a sample of 358 medical students attending a private university in Malaysia and to examine differences according to participants' gender, year of study, and stage of training (preclinical and clinical). Additionally, this study examined the extent to which stress predicts depression and anxiety, differences between depressed and nondepressed medical students' experiences of and reactions to stressors, and differences between anxious and nonanxious medical students' experiences of and reactions to stressors. Methods. The Student Life Stress Inventory was used to measure stress and reaction to stressors and the Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scale was used to measure depression and anxiety. Results. The results showed that 44% (n = 158) of the students were anxious and 34.9% (n = 125) were depressed. More female students exhibited anxiety compared to male students. Stress is a predictor for depression and anxiety. A significant difference was found between depressed and nondepressed and anxious and nonanxious students' experience of stressors due to frustration, change, and their emotional reaction to stressors. Conclusion. Overall, depressed and anxious students were found to experience more stress and react differently to stressors compared to nondepressed and nonanxious students.

No abstract

This study explored reported barriers to treatment completion in a sample of adolescents and their parents who either completed or did not complete family‐based cognitive behavioral lifestyle intervention for overweight and obese adolescents. The sample comprises 56 overweight or obese adolescents (52% female) aged 11.5–18.9 years (mean = 14.5, s.d. = 1.8) and a parent. 57% of families did not complete treatment and maintenance phases of the intervention. A telephone‐administered questionnaire assessing barriers to participation was completed by 96% of adolescents and 91% of parent completers and 100% of adolescents and 94% of parent noncompleters. Adolescents and parents most commonly reported barriers to participation related to research demands, treatment approach, program components/strategies, practical barriers, and other individual/family demands. Parents also noted adolescent effort, parent‐adolescent conflict, and adolescent unhappiness as barriers to participation. While both completers and noncompleters experienced barriers to participation, families who discontinued treatment reported experiencing more treatment barriers. Findings of the current study suggest that adolescents and parents may find it easier to participate in adolescent overweight and obesity interventions if research and out‐of‐session program demands are minimized, efforts are made to enhance adolescent motivation, and treatment is offered in a convenient location and scheduled around school holidays and other family demands. Results also suggest that targeting adolescent unhappiness, family stressors, and parent‐adolescent conflict in treatment may improve retention. Future research should explore the impact of these modifications on treatment completion and outcomes.

This study explores the impact of a cognitive behavioural lifestyle program, theChoose HealthProgram, on psychosocial wellbeing in overweight and obese adolescents. The sample comprised 29 male and 34 female adolescents aged 11.5 to 18.9 years (M= 14.3,SD= 1.9) and classified as overweight (n= 15) or obese (n= 48). Participants were randomly allocated to treatment or wait-list control conditions; participants allocated the wait-list condition were offered treatment after 6 months. Adolescents and parents completed self-report measures of psychopathology, psychosocial and family functioning. Treatment did not have detrimental effects on the psychosocial factors assessed. It resulted in significant improvements in weight control behaviour, impulse regulation, social support from family and parent–adolescent problem communication (p< .05). Similar results were obtained with completer and intention-to-treat analyses. Treatment acceptability was high, with all respondents indicating that they made progress. Combined, results indicate that treatment did not have detrimental effects on psychopathology, psychosocial functioning, or family functioning. Treatment resulted in significant improvements in impulse regulation, social support from family and parent–adolescent communication. Thus, parents and professionals can be assured that a comprehensive, multifaceted, parent-supported, cognitive behavioural intervention for overweight and obese adolescents does not cause psychological harm.