The Protective Role of Self-Compassion in the Relationship between Perfectionism and Burnout in Portuguese Medicine and Dentistry Students

Abstract

Recent studies have documented the high prevalence of burnout among medicine and dentistry students, with potentially catastrophic consequences for both students and patients. Both environmental and personality factors play a part in burnout; perfectionism, a common trait in medicine students’ personalities, has been linked to psychological distress and increasing students’ vulnerability to burnout. Self-compassion, i.e., treating oneself kindly through hardship, has recently emerged as a buffer between perfectionism and psychological distress. While using a novel three-factor conceptualization of perfectionism (BIG3), this study aims to analyze if self-compassion has a protective role in the relationship between perfectionism and burnout, in a sample of medicine and dentistry students, through mediation analysis. We found that self-compassion significantly mediated the relationship between all three forms of perfectionism and burnout: as a partial mediator in self-critical and rigid perfectionism, as well as a full mediator in narcissistic perfectionism. Our findings underline self-compassion’s relevance in burnout prevention and management, supporting its use as an intervention target in burnout reduction programs and strategies.

The role of self‐compassion in mediating the effect of perfectionism on personal growth initiative in dental hygienists

“…These findings suggest maladaptive perfectionism is higher in dental hygienists and ways to develop a more adaptive perfectionism need to be identified to mitigate the negative effects of maladaptive perfectionism with self-compassion being one approach. 5,9,21 In our study sample, levels of self-compassion were found to be moderate. In comparing our findings to a very large pooled for the SCS versus 2.62 in this study's sample.…”

“…The mean for evaluative concerns in the college sample ( M = 9.99) was lower than our sample ( M = 11.83) with a medium effect size ( d = 0.45, p < 0.05). These findings suggest maladaptive perfectionism is higher in dental hygienists and ways to develop a more adaptive perfectionism need to be identified to mitigate the negative effects of maladaptive perfectionism with self‐compassion being one approach 5,9,21 …”

Zum Titelbild

“…Several studies have demonstrated that self-compassion has a protective or buffering effect against the pathogenic effects of perfectionism: Self-compassion mediates (at least in part) the association between perfectionism and clinical syndromes such as depressiveness [Ferrari et al, 2018], anxiety [Fletcher et al, 2019], burnout [Pereira et al, 2022], and body-related dissatisfaction [Barnett and Sharp, 2016]. Thus, even when high standards are maintained, enhancing self-compassion may have a protective effect on the mental health of perfectionistic patients.…”

Verhaltenstherapeutische Behandlung von Perfektionismus: Ein Überblick über Forschungsstand und praktisches Vorgehen

“…abpuffernden Effekt gegen die pathogene Wirkung von Perfektionismus hat. Selbstmitgefühl mediiert so etwa (zumindest teilweise) den Zusammenhang zwischen Perfektionismus und klinischen Syndromen wie Depressivität [Ferrari et al, 2018], Ängstlichkeit [Fletcher et al, 2019], Burnout [Pereira et al, 2022] und körperbezogener Unzufriedenheit [Barnett und Sharp, 2016]. Selbst wenn also hohe Standards aufrechterhalten bleiben, kann sich die Stärkung von Selbstmitgefühl protektiv auf die psychische Gesundheit von perfektionistischen Patient*innen auswirken.…”