Does degree completion improve non-cognitive skills during early adulthood and adulthood?

Effects of grit on medical students' wellbeing during clerkships: a longitudinal observational cohort study

Introduction

In medical education, the clerkship phase is a demanding period during which medical students learn to navigate the responsibilities of medical school and clinical medicine. Grit, a personal quality regarded as a non-cognitive trait, refers to perseverance and passion; specifically, it represents the ability to endure hardship and work industriously toward a goal. Most studies analysed grit as a single concept and few studies have investigated the effect of grit on the well-being of medical students through the whole-specialty training (i.e. surgical and non-surgical specialty rotations) required in clinical clerkships. Therefore, this study investigated whether associations exist between medical students' grit, measured by the two subconstructs of perseverance and passion, and their well-being during clerkships in surgical and non-surgical specialty units.

Methods

This one-year prospective web-based questionnaire study enrolled fifth-year medical students at a tertiary medical centre in central Taiwan between September 2017 and July 2018 in their first-year clerkship. The students' sex, age, and grit were measured at the start of their clerkship. Routine surveys were conducted over one year to assess burnout and compassion satisfaction for students' well-being, and the training specialty characteristics of the surgical and non-surgical specialty departments were recorded. This study included 92 medical students and 1,055 survey responses from individual specialty rotations. Descriptive, univariate and multivariate analyses were performed.

Results

Our results revealed that medical students' perseverance, as part of grit, was related to lower burnout and higher compassion satisfaction during clerkships, but not the subconstruct of passion. Moreover, the positive trait of perseverance measured in our study had greater explanatory power for compassion satisfaction than for burnout. Furthermore, the results revealed that older medical students suffered from less burnout than their younger counterparts, and that male medical students expressed higher compassion satisfaction than their female counterparts.

Discussion

Perseverance, as a subconstruct of grit, is a positive personal quality for medical students' clerkships, and methods driving the cultivation of perseverance in medical education should be considered. In addition, even though positive traits such as perseverance equipped medical students for compassion satisfaction, additional factors attributed to medical students' burnout must be identified.

Development and psychometric properties testing of the Non-Cognitive Skills Scale for nursing students

BACKGROUND

Non-cognitive skills are crucial for nursing students to achieve their academic performance successfully and perform clinical practice effectively. Although different non-cognitive assessment tools have been established in various disciplines, few are focused on nursing students.

OBJECTIVE

The study aims to develop and psychometrically validate the Non-Cognitive Skills Scale (NCSS) for nursing students.

DESIGN

Qualitative and quantitative research design.

SETTING

One university in Singapore.

PARTICIPANTS

A total of 347 nursing educators and students participated in this study.

METHODS

A two-phase design was used. In the first phase, focus group discussions and literature reviews were conducted to generate the preliminary items of the NCSS. Content validity was established with an expert panel of 10 members, and the tool was pilot tested on 20 students. In the second phase, the number of items was reduced based on correlation coefficients and factor loading. The psychometric properties of the NCSS were tested on survey responses from 300 students. The Brief Resilience Scale, Trait Emotional Intelligence Questionnaire, and Big Five Inventory-10 were used to investigate concurrent and convergent validity.

RESULTS

A 39-item six-factor NCSS was developed with satisfactory model fit indices (χ2/df: 1.60, IFI: 0.92, TLI: 0.90, CFI: 0.92 and RMSEA: 0.05). Content validity was confirmed with a content validity index of 0.90. A pilot test was conducted to improve readability and clarity. Known-group validity discriminated against age and gender group differences in a predictable way. Concurrent validity and convergent validity were confirmed with acceptable correlation coefficients. Cronbach's α was 0.91, and test-retest reliability was 0.84.

CONCLUSIONS

The NCSS is a reliable and valid tool for assessing the non-cognitive attributes of nursing students. This scale can be considered an admission tool for selecting the suitability of nursing applicants for nursing programmes. Further validation of NCSS is needed using a longitudinal study design in multiple settings across countries.

Association between Grit and depressive symptoms at the timing of job start among medical residents during the COVID-19 pandemic in Japan: a cross-sectional study

INTRODUCTION

The COVID-19 pandemic had an additional negative impact on the mental health of healthcare workers, including residents. Previous studies revealed that grit, which is an individual trait to achieve long-term goals unrelated to intelligence quotient, is not only positively associated with academic achievement and career success but also negatively correlated with depression. This study aimed to examine the association between grit and depressive symptoms among residents at the time of job start during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic in Japan.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

This cross-sectional study used data from all post-graduate year 1 residents from March 2020 to April 2022 at Tokyo Medical and Dental University, Tokyo, Japan. Grit was measured by the Japanese version of Grit-S. The resident's depressive symptoms were assessed using the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale. The association of interest was examined using logistic regression analysis.

RESULTS

Among 221 residents, 28 (12.7%) have depressive symptoms. One unit increase in Grit-S score after adjusting for age, sex, graduated university, and sleeping hours was associated with lower odds of having depressive symptoms by 63% (odds ratio [OR]: 0.37; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.19-0.74). Further, the perseverance of effort subscale score was associated with lower odds of having depressive symptoms after covariate adjustment (OR: 0.43; 95% CI: 0.22-0.84).

CONCLUSIONS

Higher grit scores were associated with lower odds of having depressive symptoms among residents at the timing of job start during the COVID-19 pandemic. Regular mental health assessment is particularly important for residents with low grit scores at entry.

Impact of Coaching on the Development of Personal and Social Competences among Secondary School Students

In this study, the impact of school coaching in Spain on the dimensions that comprise the effective personality construct and the development of those dimensions among secondary school students is analyzed. Differences relating to the variables of gender, course year/age, and the state/private sector of each educational center are specified. A longitudinal study employing a quasi-experimental methodology was conducted with a sample of 310 students in attendance at 6 educational centers within the Community of Madrid, Spain; the study cohort comprised 156 (50.3%) male students and 154 (49.7%) female students. The effective personality questionnaire in secondary education was used for the pre- and post-intervention evaluations, as well as to conduct an open survey once the program had ended. The students who attended the six-session intervention expressed high degrees of satisfaction. Despite the brevity of each session (45-60 min), a slight non-significant improvement was observed in the experimental group relative to the control group in the dimensions that were studied (p > 0.05). Regarding gender, the program worked better with male rather than with female students. It was also more effective within state-aided than in state schools.

Evaluation of an Alternative Learning System for youths at risk of involvement in urban violence in the Philippines

BACKGROUND

Globally, violence disproportionately affects young people, leading to injury, hospitalisation, death, social dysfunction, and poor mental wellbeing. Moreover, it has far-reaching economic consequences for whole nations, due to loss of productivity. Research suggests that attaining a higher level of education promotes factors that insulate youths from poverty and violence.

PURPOSE

In this study, we investigated the outcomes, the cost, and the cost-effectiveness of a non-formal education program with an additional psychosocial component. The short-term outcome measure was an increase in educational attainment, a crucial step for youth empowerment. The program analysed was the Alternative Learning System (ALS) offered by the Balay Rehabiliation Centre in Bagong Silang, an urban slum in Manila, which targeted out of school youth.

METHODS

The cost-effectiveness analysis of ALS compared to a 'do nothing approach' was performed from the perspective of the service provider. The study sample comprised 239 learners who were enrolled in the ALS during 2015-2018. For the 'do nothing' comparator, a counterfactual scenario was hypothesised. The average cost of the intervention per enrolled learner, and the incremental cost effectiveness ratio (ICER) for passing the Accreditation and Evaluation (A&E) exam at elementary or secondary level, were calculated.

RESULTS

The ALS intervention studied resulted in 41% (n = 97) of the learners passing the examination over a period of four years (from 2015-2018). The estimated total cost of the intervention was $371,110, corresponding to $1550 per enrolled learner. The incremental cost-effectiveness ratio for a pass in the exam was found to be $3830. Compared to other, international, alternative learning interventions, the ALS intervention as used in Bagong Silang was found to be more cost-effective.

CONCLUSION

From the service provider perspective, the ALS for out-of-school young people was found to be a valuable investment to benefit poor young people living in slums in Manila.

Updating the Debate on Behavioral Competency Development: State of the Art and Future Challenges

Emotional, social, and cognitive intelligence competencies have been recognized as the most critical capabilities for organizations to acquire at all levels. For this reason, a wide body of research since the 1980s has demonstrated their positive impact on individual performance, career success, and wellbeing across sectors and professional roles, and a large number of theoretical contributions on how these competencies can be effectively developed has emerged over time. We focus attention on the developmental and learning processes of emotional, social, and cognitive intelligence competencies that occur after formal training or educational courses provided by universities or certified organizations and directed to students or practitioners. Specifically, we conduct an exploratory literature review on the existing academic studies in order to identify the scholars and the pieces of research contributing most to the debate under investigation. This article aims at analyzing this body of research through a systematic review of the literature in order to: (i) provide a comprehensive critical analysis of the distinctive features of the theoretical and methodological frameworks adopted to develop these competencies; (ii) review the contexts in which the training initiatives analyzed by the literature have been delivered and the categories of learner involved; (iii) discuss the learning outcomes of these educational programs and how they have been assessed; (iv) identify gaps and inconsistencies in the current state of the literature, suggesting promising paths for future research; and (v) stimulate insights for educators, human resource managers, executives, and policymakers by organizing and critically analyzing the extant contributions on competency development. This review represents the first attempt to systematize the methodologies of the educational programs for competency development and to assess their effectiveness in order to assist educators and executives in their ongoing efforts to equip students and employees with the relevant skills needed to achieve superior performance in the workplace. At the institutional level, policymakers should promote a dedicated agenda with concrete actions to equip people with emotional and social intelligence competencies.