Psychometric properties of the Medical Student Well-Being Index among medical students in a Malaysian medical school

Impact of Social Media Addiction Among Medical Students on Their Social Interaction, Well-Being, and Personality: A Comparative Study

Background Social media addiction has emerged as a growing concern, particularly among young adults, including medical students who face unique stressors and demands. The widespread usage of social media platforms can lead to addictive behaviors affecting mental health, academic performance, and interpersonal relationships. Understanding the relationship between social media addiction, personality traits, social interaction, and overall well-being is crucial for developing effective interventions to support this vulnerable group. Aim To study the relationship of social media addiction with social interaction, well-being, and personality in medical students. Materials and methods A cross-sectional study was conducted with 300 students from a medical institution, including both undergraduate and postgraduate levels. Data were collected through an online survey, administered via Google Forms. Social Media Addiction Scale-Student Form (SMA-SF), Social Interaction Anxiety Scale and Social Phobia Scale, Medical Student Well-Being Index (MSWBI), Three-Item Loneliness Scale (T-ILS), and Short Big Five Inventory Scale (BFI-10) were applied to all the participants. Results A total of 292 medical students participated in the study, comprising 122 males and 170 females. The analysis revealed that both male and female students exhibit similar levels of susceptibility to social media addiction, as evidenced by comparable scores on measures of social media addiction, social interaction anxiety, social phobia, loneliness, well-being, and personality traits. Regression analysis identified time spent on social media and agreeableness as significant predictors of social media addiction, with no signs of multicollinearity. These findings indicate that male and female medical students share similar psychological profiles, highlighting critical factors that influence social media usage within this population. Conclusion This study highlights a significant prevalence of social media addiction among medical students, affecting 76.7% (n = 224) of participants, with slightly higher rates observed among females (n = 132, 78%) compared to males (n = 92, 72%). This addiction correlates with adverse psychological traits such as heightened social interaction anxiety, social phobia, and loneliness, along with personality traits like neuroticism. Both genders exhibit similar susceptibility to addiction, influenced by factors such as time spent socializing and agreeableness. Addressing these findings through targeted interventions could improve medical students' overall well-being and mental health outcomes, underscoring the need for further research and effective strategies in academic settings.

Medical student wellness assessment beyond anxiety and depression: A scoping review

Background

A significant increase in distress and mental health illnesses has been identified in medical students during their training. As a result, medical schools have attempted to understand factors linked to well-being. Wellness questionnaires present a useful approach to identifying students with risk factors for mental health to provide appropriate resources for support and referrals. This study aims to identify validated questionnaires in the literature that measure medical student wellness.

Methods

A scoping review methodology was selected and an exhaustive search of MEDLINE, Embase, CINAHL, APA PsycInfo, EPIC, and Education Source, was performed from 1999 to May 27, 2021. A compilation of validated wellness evaluation tools, surveys and questionnaires assessing wellness beyond depression and anxiety was reviewed. All validated methods of wellness assessment for medical students were included.

Results

5,001 studies were identified once duplicate records were removed. After applying inclusion and exclusion criteria, 23 articles were included in a qualitative synthesis and explored in detail. The following six validated questionnaires measuring the wellness of medical school students are reported and discussed: the Medical Student Stress Profile (MSSP), the Medical Student Stress Questionnaire (MSSQ), the Medical Student Well-Being Index (MSWBI), the Perceived Medical School Stress (PMSS), the Perceived Stress Scale for Medical Students (PSSMS), and the Oldenburg Burnout Inventory—Medical Student Version (OLBI-MS). These validated questionnaires provide various aspects to the assessment of wellbeing.

Conclusions

Wellbeing evaluations are reliable in identifying medical students who are at risk for mental health illnesses but must be chosen carefully based on contexts, academic environment and student population. A direct comparison between validated questionnaires for student wellbeing is not possible and individual medical schools must determine the appropriateness and validity of such tools based on population-specific characteristics and demands.

Brief Screening for Distress among Healthcare Professionals: Psychometric Properties of the Physician Well-Being Index—Spanish Version

Background: The Physician Well-Being Index (PWBI) is a brief, valid, reliable self-assessment instrument to identify health professionals’ distress and those in need of an intervention. Objective: to evaluate the construct, predictive validity (of depression, suicidal ideation, insomnia, and generalized anxiety), and internal consistency of the 7-item Spanish version of the PWBI (PWBI-S). Methods: out of a national population of approximately 1 million Mexican healthcare professionals, a sample of 3506 subjects (42.0% physicians, 28.7% nurses and 29.3% psychologists) completed an online survey between 17 April and 7 May 2020, at the time of the COVID-19 case cluster transmission scenario in Mexico. Results: In the three sub-samples, PWBI-S’s Confirmatory factor analyses (adding residual covariances) exhibited adequate goodness of fit indices for the PWBS original unidimensional model. Overall Cronbach’s alphas were 0.89 for physicians, 0.90 for nurses, and 0.86 for psychologists. Univariate logistic regression models showed that a cutoff point of 3 on the total score of the PWBI-S was generally related to the presence of depression, suicidal ideation, and insomnia, but not with generalized anxiety among nurses and psychologists. When trying with a cutoff point of 3, a relationship with GA was shown in psychologists, but not in nurses. Conclusions: our findings suggest that PWBI-S is a valid, reliable measure for clinical and research purposes in the field.

Yoga an effective strategy for self-management of stress-related problems and wellbeing during COVID19 lockdown: A cross-sectional study

This cross-sectional research aims to study the effect of yoga practice on the illness perception, and wellbeing of healthy adults during 4-10 weeks of lockdown due to COVID19 outbreak. A total of 668 adults (64.7% males, M = 28.12 years, SD = 9.09 years) participated in the online survey. The participants were grouped as; yoga practitioners, other spiritual practitioners, and non-practitioners based on their responses to daily practices that they follow. Yoga practitioners were further examined based on the duration of practice as; long-term, mid-term and beginners. Multivariate analysis indicates that yoga practitioners had significantly lower depression, anxiety, & stress (DASS), and higher general wellbeing (SWGB) as well as higher peace of mind (POMS) than the other two groups. The results further revealed that the yoga practitioners significantly differed in the perception of personal control, illness concern and emotional impact of COVID19. However, there was no significant difference found for the measure of resilience (BRS) in this study. Yoga practitioners also significantly differed in the cognitive reappraisal strategy for regulating their emotions than the other two groups. Interestingly, it was found that beginners -those who had started practicing yoga only during the lockdown period reported no significant difference for general wellbeing and peace of mind when compared to the mid- term practitioner. Evidence supports that yoga was found as an effective self- management strategy to cope with stress, anxiety and depression, and maintain wellbeing during COVID19 lockdown.

Use of the Well-Being Index to identify pharmacy residents in distress

OBJECTIVE(S)

Identify current pharmacy residents' level of distress, likelihood of burnout, likelihood of severe fatigue, suicidal ideation, meaning in work, satisfaction with work-life balance, and overall quality of life.

METHODS

A cross-sectional survey, conducted between February 1, 2020 and March 31, 2020. The pharmacist Well-Being Index (WBI) was used to collect data from first- and second-year pharmacy resident participants. A survey was sent to each residency program director (RPD) listed in the American Society of Health-System Pharmacist directory. RPDs were asked to forward the e-mail with information on the survey for the residents to complete. The e-mail contained a description of the research project and a link to the research survey. Respondents were asked to complete questions regarding their demographics in the research survey, including age, gender, ethnicity, marital status, commute time, type of residency, year of residency, etc. They were then asked to complete the WBI through the provided link and asked to enter their results from the WBI into the survey.

RESULTS

Pharmacy residents are at high risk for developing burnout; 53% of the participants were considered to be high risk. Approximately 43% of the pharmacy residents were considered to have a moderate to high risk for developing severe fatigue, and 57% had poor work-life integration scores. Participants were found to have a high quality of life and high meaning in their work, 46% and 62%, respectively.

CONCLUSION

The study identified that pharmacy residents who experienced great levels of distress were more likely to experience symptoms of burnout and more likely to experience fatigue. Pharmacy residents also experienced a high quality of life and high meaning in their work.

Reliability and validity of the Turkish version of the WHO-5, in adults and older adults for its use in primary care settings

Background:

This study aims to determine the psychometric properties of the World Health Organization Well-Being Index (WHO-5) Turkish version in Turkish adults and older adults.

Methods:

This is a multicenter cultural adaptation study carried out with 1752 participants. Internal consistency (by Cronbach’s alpha); Construct validity (by known groups and confirmatory factor analysis-CFI) and discriminant validity are evaluated stratified by adults and older adults. Cohen’s Effect Size is used in known groups and discriminant validity analyses.

Results:

Distribution properties of the WHO-5 Turkish version are in acceptable limits. Alpha values are 0.81 for adults and 0.86 for older adults. The variances of the 58.5% of the adults sample and 63.9% of the older adults sample are explained in Exploratory FA. Model fits (CFI) are satisfactory ( > 0.95) in both samples; but RMSEA is poor in the older adults sample (0.166) whereas it is acceptable (0.073) in the adults sample. Known groups validity and discriminant analyses are satisfactory in both adults and older adults.

Conclusion:

The WHO-5 Turkish version has a good measurement capacity, internal consistency and good model fits in both samples. The error values in the older adults group suggest that the results when testing older adults should be interpreted with caution.

Correlation between Internet addiction, depression, anxiety and stress among undergraduate medical students in Azad Kashmir

Objective:

To find out the correlation between internet addiction and depression, anxiety, and stress among undergraduate medical students in Azad Kashmir.

Methods:

A cross-sectional study including 210 undergraduate medical students (first to the fifth year) was done in Poonch Medical College, Azad Kashmir. The data collection tools were DASS21 questionnaire and Young’s internet addiction questionnaire. Spearman rank correlation test was done to see the correlation between internet addiction and depression, anxiety, and stress. Data were analyzed by SPSS v23 at a 95% confidence interval.

Results:

A very high prevalence (52.4%) of moderate to extremely severe internet addiction was observed among the respondents. The mild positive correlation between internet addiction and depression was identified (p <.001) and similar type of correlation was observed between internet addiction and stress (p .003). However, anxiety and internet addiction were not significantly correlated. The prevalence of anxiety and depression among the males were higher than the females, whilst the stress level was almost the same across gender.

Conclusion:

Internet addiction has been found to be associated with various psychiatric diseases. In this study, we also observed such correlation. We have also observed a very high level of internet addiction among medical students. The prevalence of internet addiction may further increase in the coming years as the internet will become more cheap, available and include more high quality psychologically addictive contents.