Toward Resilience: Medical Students' Perception of Social Support

Abstract

Context: There is strong evidence that social support-particularly perceived social supportfunctions as a protective factor for health. Few studies have investigated how medical students perceive the types of social support they experience. Objective: To determine how osteopathic medical students perceive social support, understand the factors that influence their perceptions, and explore how group participation in a cocurricular, academic program could affect student perceptions. Methods: In this cross-sectional study of 983 medical students at a multicampus osteopathic medical school in the Midwest, potential respondents were invited by email in March 2018 to participate in a self-reported evaluation of their perceived social support using a 40-question Interpersonal Support Evaluation List (ISEL). The demographic variables included gender, race, age, current phase in medical school, Hispanic heritage, campus assignment, and hometown population type. A total score for each type of social support and a summative score for overall perceived social support were calculated. Descriptive statistics were applied to provide a summary of the distribution of study variables. Bivariate analyses were conducted using student t test and analysis of variance (ANOVA) statistic to determine distribution of 4 social support constructs and overall social support by all the study variables; α < .05 was considered statistically significant. Linear regression analysis was performed to determine the association between all study variables and 4 social support constructs. Pairwise interactions were calculated to determine whether the association differed by any of the study variables. Results: Self-esteem support was the lowest type of perceived social support overall in the total sample (mean [SD], 23.5[2.0]). Hispanic students reported lower overall mean perceived social support than those who did not identify as Hispanic (100 vs 104; P=.04). Older study participants had higher mean tangible support compared with their younger counterparts (26.25 vs. 25.60, P=.018; t [264]=1.18). Older study participants also had higher mean appraisal support compared with their younger counterparts (26.57 vs. 25.92, P=.06; t [266]=1.27). Female medical students reported lower levels of belonging support overall (mean [SD] 26.79, [2.10]). Students from rural hometowns reported a higher sense of belonging support than any other group. Female students from suburban and urban hometowns reported lower levels of belonging support compared with women from rural hometowns (Adj. β=−0.96, P=.01). Students who participated in the rural and urban underserved program had higher self esteem support compared with those who did not participate in the rural and urban underserved program (Adj. β=−1.30, P=.05). Students in the clinical phase of medical education reported lower levels of belonging support than students in the preclinical phase (26.14 vs. 26.69, P=.05; t[256]=1.07). Conclusions: It is critical to understand the ways medical students experience social s...

Social support and subjective well-being among postgraduate medical students: the mediating role of anxiety and the moderating role of alcohol and tobacco use

“…Social support was also correlated and negatively predicted anxiety (Jahan et al, 2016). Moreover, in the context of medical education, previous study has found that there is a strong correlation between group membership and well-being (Casapulla et al, 2020). Empirical studies also indicated social support and mental health are closely related (Peng et al, 2012).…”

Perceived Social Support and Stress: a Study of 1st Year Students in Ireland

“…In contrast, however, Zamani-Alavijeh et al ( 2017 ) found that over 60% of medical science students in Iran ( n = 763) reported low levels of social support, with females reporting significantly lower levels than male students. These findings suggest that males and female students may have different support needs, but also may perceive source social support differently (Casapulla et al, 2020 ; Zamani-Alavijeh et al, 2017 ). While there is a significant body of research developing in this area of studies, they vary significantly in methodology, definition of social support, timing of data collected, population samples, cultural differences and students’ living circumstances, making it difficult to make direct comparisons across studies on the levels of social support available to students.…”

“…Family support has consistently been identified as playing an important role in academic persistence (Abukari, 2010 ; Nelson, 2019 ; Sosu & Pheunpha, 2019 ; Theodore et al, 2017 ), while support derived from peers and support groups is associated with positive academic outcomes (Kim et al, 2017 ; Li et al, 2018a , b ), including enhancing understanding of course materials and clarifying difficult concepts (Collins et al, 2010 ; Gallop & Bastien, 2016 ; Masserini & Bini, 2021 ). In terms of other sources of support, while students may access support from academic staff to a lesser extent than that from other sources (Blair, 2017 ; Casapulla et al, 2020 ; Reeve et al, 2013 ), these relationships are found to be important for both wellbeing and transition to university (Cage et al, 2021 ; Jun et al, 2018 ; Maymon et al, 2019 ; Meehan & Howells, 2017 ; Reeve et al, 2013 ). Research has identified that certain programmes due to teaching methods and small group classes may lead to greater peer social support (Jun et al, 2018 ).…”

“…There are mixed findings on the levels and impact of social support within the research conducted with students, with indications of differences based on gender, age, discipline and mode of study. Gender has been identified as a significant predictor of social support (Casapulla et al, 2020 ; Hamdan-Mansour & Dawani, 2008 ; Park et al, 2015 ; Soman et al, 2016 ; Zamani-Alavijeh et al, 2017 ), with higher levels reported consistently by female students. Jun et al ( 2018 ) reported that the high levels of support among nursing students may be related to gender differences, but also to the nature of the programme and the use of small groups which facilitate the development of close relationships and social support from peers (Brouwer et al, 2016 ; Poots & Cassidy, 2020 ).…”

“…The structure of universities, comprising of residence halls and student organisations, can facilitate the building of such friendships and networks (Mishra, 2020 ). In addition, there is some evidence to suggest that students who spend less time on campus during their first year reported have less access to social supports (Leese, 2010 ; McCoy et al, 2014 ), which can lead to a reduced sense of belonging (Casapulla et al, 2020 ; Naylor et al, 2018 ). Naylor et al ( 2018 ) further argue that educators have a significant role in mitigating workload stress for first year students through facilitating the development of social support (Jumat et al, 2020 ).…”