Abstract
Objective
The authors investigated changes in medical students’ defenses during clerkship and examined the effects of these changes on students’ resilience.
Methods
Between 2012 and 2014, all year-2 preclinical students (N = 249) at Gyeongsang National University Medical School were asked to participate. Those who agreed to participate (N = 237) completed the Korean version of the Defense Style Questionnaire (K-DSQ) and the Connor–Davidson resilience scale-10 (CD-RISC-10). After clerkship, students who proceeded to year 4 in 2 years (n = 187 (93 females), aged 24–38 years (mean, 28.9 ± 2.8 years)) completed the K-DSQ, CD-RISC-10, and the Korean version of the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (K-HADS) in September 2014, 2015, and 2016.
Results
The use of adaptive (W = 11,603.5, p < 0.001, r = 0.39) and self-inhibiting (W = 10,901.5, p < 0.001, r = 0.32) styles increased significantly after clerkship. A multiple linear regression analysis showed that changes in adaptive defense styles (B = 1.336, SE = 0.386, β = 0.218, p = 0.001) during clerkship were significantly related to resilience after adjusting for age, sex, depression, and anxiety.
Conclusions
Both positive personality development and maladaptive changes in defenses were evident. An increase in the adaptive defense style score was related to resilience.
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This research was partially based on the first author’s doctoral thesis: The Relationship of Defense Changes during Clinical Clerkship with Physician–Patient Interactions, Resilience, and Circadian Preference (Unpublished doctoral dissertation): Gyeongsang National University, Jinju, Republic of Korea, 2018.
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Lee, SJ., Park, CS., Kim, BJ. et al. Psychological Development during Medical School Clerkship: Relationship to Resilience. Acad Psychiatry 44, 418–422 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40596-020-01191-3
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40596-020-01191-3