Correlations between Academic Achievement and Anxiety and Depression in Medical Students Experiencing Integrated Curriculum Reform

Abstract

This study aimed to examine the correlations between academic achievement and levels of anxiety and depression in medical students who were experiencing curriculum reform. The differences in academic achievement and the directions of correlations between academic achievement and anxiety and depression among the medical students with different levels of anxiety and depression were also examined. Grade 1 students from graduate-entry program and grade 3 students from undergraduate-entry program in their first semester of the new curriculum were recruited to complete the Zung's Anxiety and Depression Scale twice to examine their levels of anxiety and depression. Their academic achievement ratings in the four blocks of the first semester of the new curriculum were collected. The results indicated that no significant correlation was found between academic achievement and global anxiety and depression. However, by dividing the medical students into low, moderate and high level anxiety or depression groups, those who had poorer academic achievement in the first learning block were more likely to have higher levels of depression in the first psychologic assessment. Among the medical students who were in the high anxiety level group in the first psychologic assessment, those who had more severe anxiety had poorer academic achievement in the fourth learning block. Among the medical students who were in the low anxiety level group in the second psychologic assessment, those who had more severe anxiety had better academic achievement in the fourth learning block. Among the medical students who were in the moderate anxiety level group in the second psychologic assessment, those who had more severe anxiety had poorer academic achievement in the second learning block. Among the medical students who were in the high depression level group in the second psychologic assessment, those who had more severe depression had poorer academic achievement in the fourth learning block. The results of this study indicate that there are both positive and negative correlations between academic achievement and anxiety and depression in medical students, regarding differing levels of severity of anxiety or depression. The results could represent a reference for teachers on the planning of teaching and assessment programs.

Prevalence of Anxiety and Depression among Medical Students

“…Anxiety is another psychiatric morbidity which characteristically occurs more frequently among medical students than in the general population 5 . Factors such as pressure to learn, excessive study load, amount of new information and long work hours during residency, along with anxious personality traits, Fábio de Oliveira Tabalipa, et al http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/1981-52712015v39n3e02662014 explain this characteristic association 4,17 . The prevalence of anxiety found in this study (35.5%) stood considerably above the prevalence rate found in the literature 3,18 .…”

“…There is a consensus in the psychiatric literature that women tend to have more depressive and anxiety symptoms than men 1,13,[15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22] . The present study corroborates this finding, since it showed that women had 14% higher prevalence of anxiety and 16% higher prevalence of depression compared to men.…”

Effect of Solution-Focused Brief Therapy-Based on Exercise Prescription Intervention on Adolescent Mental Health

“…Los estudios han confirmado que la tasa de depresión entre los adolescentes en diferentes partes de China es de alrededor del 30%, mientras que la tasa de ansiedad es aproximadamente del 40% (Wang, Meng, Kong y Zhao, 2015). Cabe destacar que la depresión y la ansiedad no solo afectan el rendimiento académico y burnout de los estudiantes (Akinsola y Nwajei, 2013), sino que también influyen en su autoeficacia y en sus relaciones interpersonales e incrementan la incidencia de conductas problemáticas (Alosco et al, 2011;Massey, Lee, White y Goldsmith, 2012;Yeh et al, 2007), y reducen el bienestar subjetivo (Möller, Leimkühler, Heller y Paulus, 2007).…”

Síntomas depresivos y rendimiento escolar en estudiantes de Medicina

“…Los resultados reportaron que no hubo correlación significativa entre los logros académicos y la ansiedad o la depresión en general; sin embargo al dividir a los estudiantes en grupos por puntajes, de acuerdo a la intensidad de la depresión, aquéllos que tenían uno mayor tenían bajo rendimiento académico en los primeros meses de la carrera. 23 De forma contraria, Vaidya et al (2007) correlacionaron los síntomas de la depresión con el rendimiento escolar (medido por las calificaciones de los estudiantes) y no encontraron diferencias estadísticamente significativas.…”