Depression Among Medical Students: Patterns Across Gender and Educational Phase

Martaria Rizky Rinaldi, Cantigi Puspa Salsabila

Abstract


Medical students are vulnerable to mental health problems due to intense academic and psychosocial stress. This study aims to describe the severity levels of depressive symptoms and examine differences based on gender and educational phase (preclinical and clerkship). A quantitative descriptive and comparative non-experimental design with purposive sampling was used, involving 185 students from various universities in Indonesia. The instrument used was the Indonesian version of the Patient Health Questionnaire-9. The findings showed that most students experienced depressive symptoms, with the majority falling into the moderate category. The Mann–Whitney test revealed that preclinical students reported significantly higher depression scores than those in the clerkship phase (U = 1926, p = 0.023). No significant difference was found based on gender (U = 2283, p = 0.703). These findings —particularly the high prevalence of moderate depressive symptoms and the greater severity among preclinical students—highlight the importance of early detection and integrated psychological interventions within medical education systems to enhance students’ mental well-being.


Keywords


depression, educational phase, gender, medical students, students

Full Text:

PDF

References


American Psychiatric Association. (2013). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (5th ed.). https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.books.9780890425596

Anissa, M., & Akbar, R. R. (2021). Gambaran Tingkat Depresi Mahasiswa Fakultas Kedokteran Universitas Baiturrahmah Angkatan 2017. J Med Udayana, 10(10), 28-31.

Dewi, N. M. B. R. S., Subrata, I. M., Kardiwinata, M. P., & Ekawati, N. K. (2019). Tingkat Depresi Mahasiswa Yang Sedang Menyusun Skripsi Di Fakultas Kedokteran Universitas Udayana Tahun 2019. Health, 1.

Dian, C. N., Effendy, E., & Amin, M. M. (2022). The Validation of Indonesian Version of Patient Health Questionnaire-9. Open Access Macedonian Journal of Medical Sciences, 10(T7), 193–198. https://doi.org/10.3889/oamjms.2022.9293

Irby, D. M., & Hamstra, S. J. (2016). Parting the Clouds: Three Professionalism Frameworks in Medical Education. Academic Medicine, 91(12), 1606–1611. https://doi.org/10.1097/acm.0000000000001190

Kedang, E. F. S., Nurina, R. L., & Manafe, D. R. T. (2020). Analisis faktor resiko yang mempengaruhi kejadian depresi pada mahasiswa fakultas kedokteran universitas nusa cendana. Ceylon Medical Journal, 8(2), 87–95. https://doi.org/10.35508/cmj.v8i2.3352

Kroenke, K., Spitzer, R. L., & Williams, J. B. W. (2001). The PHQ-9. Journal of General Internal Medicine, 16(9), 606–613. https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1525-1497.2001.016009606.x

Lazarus, R. S., & Folkman, S. (1984). Stress, appraisal, and coping. New York: Springer.

Mayer, F. B., Santos, I. S., Silveira, P. S. P., Lopes, M. H. I., De Souza, A. R. N. D., Campos, E. P., De Abreu, B. a. L., Hoffman, I., II, Magalhães, C. R., Lima, M. C. P., Almeida, R., Spinardi, M., & Tempski, P. (2016). Factors associated to depression and anxiety in medical students: a multicenter study. BMC Medical Education, 16(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12909-016-0791-1

Melaku, L., Mossie, A., & Negash, A. (2015). Stress among Medical Students and Its Association with Substance Use and Academic Performance. Journal of Biomedical Education, 2015, 1–9. https://doi.org/10.1155/2015/149509

Mirza, A. A., Baig, M., Beyari, G. M., Halawani, M. A., & Mirza, A. A. (2021). Depression and Anxiety among Medical Students: A Brief Overview. Advances in Medical Education and Practice, Volume 12, 393–398. https://doi.org/10.2147/amep.s302897

Moir, F., Yielder, J., Sanson, J., & Chen, Y. (2018). Depression in medical students: current insights. Advances in Medical Education and Practice, Volume 9, 323–333. https://doi.org/10.2147/amep.s137384

Olum, R., Nakwagala, F. N., & Odokonyero, R. (2020). Prevalence and Factors Associated with Depression among Medical Students at Makerere University, Uganda. Advances in Medical Education and Practice, Volume 11, 853–860. https://doi.org/10.2147/amep.s278841

Pacheco, J. P. G., Silveira, J. B., Ferreira, R. P. C., Lo, K., Schineider, J. R., Giacomin, H. T. A., & Tam, W. W. S. (2019). Gender inequality and depression among medical students: A global meta-regression analysis. Journal of Psychiatric Research, 111, 36–43. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpsychires.2019.01.013

Phomprasith, S., Karawekpanyawong, N., Pinyopornpanish, K., Jiraporncharoen, W., Maneeton, B., Phinyo, P., & Lawanaskol, S. (2022). Prevalence and Associated Factors of Depression in Medical Students in a Northern Thailand University: A Cross-Sectional Study. Healthcare, 10(3), 488. https://doi.org/10.3390/healthcare10030488

Ranasinghe, P. D., Owusu, J. T., Bertram, A., Michtalik, H., Yeh, H., Cofrancesco, J., Levine, D., Miller, E. R., III, & Marinopoulos, S. (2021). Depressive Symptoms and Burnout Among Medical Students: a Prospective Study. Journal of General Internal Medicine, 37(1), 64–69. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11606-021-06765-x

Rotenstein, L. S., Ramos, M. A., Torre, M., Segal, J. B., Peluso, M. J., Guille, C., Sen, S., & Mata, D. A. (2016). Prevalence of Depression, Depressive Symptoms, and Suicidal Ideation Among Medical Students. JAMA, 316(21), 2214. https://doi.org/10.1001/jama.2016.17324

Santosa, R. A. (2024, Maret). Survei Kemenkes: 22,4% peserta pendidikan dokter spesialis alami depresi. Kompas.id. https://www.kompas.id

Sinval, J., Oliveira, P., Novais, F., Almeida, C. M., & Telles-Correia, D. (2024). Exploring the impact of depression, anxiety, stress, academic engagement, and dropout intention on medical students’ academic performance: A prospective study. Journal of Affective Disorders. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2024.09.116

Sklar, D. P., Hemmer, P. A., & Durning, S. J. (2017). Medical Education and Health Care Delivery: A Call to Better Align Goals and Purposes. Academic Medicine, 93(3), 384–390. https://doi.org/10.1097/acm.0000000000001921

Syahputra, A., Theresa, R. M., & Bustamam, N. (2020). Hubungan Dukungan Sosial dengan Tingkat Depresi pada Mahasiswa Fakultas Kedokteran Universitas Pembangunan Nasional “Veteran” Jakarta Angkatan 2018. In Seminar Nasional Riset Kedokteran (Vol. 1, No. 1).

Yusoff, M. S. B., Rahim, A. F. A., & Yaacob, M. J. (2010, March 1). Prevalence and Sources of Stress among Universiti Sains Malaysia Medical Students. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC3216143




DOI: https://doi.org/10.17509/insight.v10i1.91144

Refbacks

  • There are currently no refbacks.


JURNAL PSIKOLOGI INSIGHT: is published by study program

of Psychology UPI Bandung, West Java, Indonesia.

 Lisensi Creative Commons

JURNAL PSIKOLOGI INSIGHT of Indonesia University of Education disebarluaskan di bawah Lisensi Creative Commons Atribusi-BerbagiSerupa 4.0 Internasional.
Berdasarkan ciptaan pada http://ejournal.upi.edu/index.php/insight/.