Abstract
Objectives
Many studies document the high prevalence of burnout among medical students. This syndrome may lead to depression, suicidal ideation, and increased academic dropout. However, there is a scarcity of evidence-based interventions to prevent it. The aim of this longitudinal study was to identify factors that may reduce students’ burnout and foster their well-being, and upon which effective interventions can be developed.
Methods
A total of 1,117 medical students from eight Chilean universities were asked to complete a set of validated scales in 2015 and 2 years later, in 2017. The measures included distress, burnout, positive mental health, academic engagement, and dispositional mindfulness. Using logistic regressions and a two-wave latent change score model, the predictive power of these variables on burnout and flourishing (an optimal state of mental health) was studied, as well as their covariance across time.
Results
In total, 639 (57.2%) students answered the questionnaires in T1 and T2; 54.4% reported burnout in T1 and 56.2% in T2. Levels of dispositional mindfulness (the ability to pay attention to one’s sensations, thoughts, and emotions in everyday life) predicted lower probabilities of burning out at 2 years, whereas having experienced burnout in T1 doubled these odds. Dispositional mindfulness, academic engagement, and flourishing at T1 predicted greater odds of flourishing 2 years later, while depression decreased these odds.
Conclusions
Dispositional mindfulness was the most powerful predictive factor of students’ burnout and flourishing. As dispositional mindfulness can be nurtured through practice, incorporating mindfulness training into undergraduate medical programs may help reduce burnout and promote students’ well-being as health professionals.
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Data Availability Statement
All data are available at the Open Science Framework (https://osf.io/mgwb4/).
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Acknowledgements
We thank all faculty and students who took part in this study.
Funding
This research was funded by the Agencia Nacional de Investigación y Desarrollo de Chile (ANID); FONDECYT grants 1150340 and 1190232.
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DZ: designed and executed the study. MT-S: assisted with the data analyses, and wrote the paper. AR: collaborated with the design and the writing of the paper. NP: collaborated with the design and the writing of the paper. GE: assisted with the data analyses, and wrote the paper. OP: collaborated with the design and assisted with the data analyses. AL: collaborated with the design and executed the study. PC: collaborated with the design and executed the study. OT: collaborated with the design and executed the study. MC: collaborated with the design and executed the study. CG: collaborated with the design and executed the study. JB: collaborated with the design and executed the study. AMM: collaborated with the design and executed the study. PA: collaborated with the design and executed the study. ED: collaborated with the design and executed the study. MM: collaborated with the design and executed the study. CB: collaborated with the design and executed the study. RE: collaborated in the writing and editing of the final manuscript. MB: designed and executed the study, wrote the paper, and participated in editing of the final manuscript. All authors approved the final version of the manuscript for submission.
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This study was examined and approved by Ethics Committee of the School of Medicine of Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile (approval no. 14–235) and was performed in accordance with the ethical standards laid down in the 1964 Declaration of Helsinki and its later amendments. All participants gave their informed consent prior to their inclusion in the study. Any detail that might disclose the identity of the subjects under study has been omitted.
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We presented some of these results at the 2018 AMEE conference; that poster received the Medical Teacher Third Top Poster Award.
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Zúñiga, D., Torres-Sahli, M., Rigotti, A. et al. Dispositional Mindfulness Reduces Burnout and Promotes Flourishing in Medical Students: a Two-Wave Latent Change Score Model. Mindfulness 13, 112–122 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12671-021-01774-7
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12671-021-01774-7