Trends in Psychiatry and Psychotherapy
https://trends.org.br/article/doi/10.1590/2237-6089-2017-0070
Trends in Psychiatry and Psychotherapy
Original Article

Subjective well-being, religiosity and anxiety: a cross-sectional study applied to a sample of Brazilian medical students

Bem-estar subjetivo, religiosidade e ansiedade: um estudo transversal em uma amostra brasileira de estudantes de medicina

Leonardo Machado; Camila Twany Nunes de Souza; Rosália de Oliveira Nunes; Camila Novaes de Santana; Camila Farias de Araujo; Amaury Cantilino

http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/2237-6089-2017-0070 Trends Psychiatry Psychother, vol.40, n3, p.185-192, 2018
PDF
SciELO
Downloads: 0
Views: 613

Abstract

Abstract Objective: To assess associations between subjective well-being (SWB), religiosity, anxiety and other factors in a sample of Brazilian medical students from a public university in northeastern Brazil. Methods: The present study followed a cross-sectional, observational, analytical approach. Data were collected by administering a self-applicable questionnaire composed of questions focused on sociodemographic data and based on the Satisfaction With Life Scale (SWL), Positive Affect and Negative Affect Scale (PANAS), Penn State Worry Questionnaire (PSWQ), and the Duke Religiosity Index (DUREL). Results: The sample comprised 417 medical school students (73.54% of all the enrolled students). The medical students assessed presented a medium level of satisfaction with life, low mean positive emotion levels and high anxiety/uneasiness levels. Surprisingly, lower anxiety and intrinsic religiosity (IR) scores were associated with higher scores in the two SWB parameters (positive emotions and satisfaction with life). Furthermore, the factors leisure activities, good sleep quality, financial support, age, and gender were associated with the highest SWB scores (with emotional and cognitive components, or with only one of these two components). Conclusions: Data in the current study corroborated the negative association between SWB and anxiety; however, in opposition to the literature, they also evidenced a negative association between SWB and IR. In addition, the present research signaled the need for creating preventive intervention programs to increase SWB through positive psychological techniques and/or to decrease anxiety by applying, for instance, cognitive-behavioral therapy paradigms and/or mindfulness techniques to medical students.

Keywords

Medical students, anxiety, medical psychology, happiness, spirituality

Resumo

Resumo Objetivos: Avaliar associações entre bem-estar subjetivo (BES), religiosidade, ansiedade e outros fatores em uma amostra de estudantes brasileiros de medicina de uma universidade pública do nordeste do Brasil. Métodos: O presente estudo seguiu uma abordagem transversal, observacional, analítica. Os dados foram coletados por meio da aplicação de um questionário autoaplicável incluindo questões focadas em dados sociodemográficos e baseado na Escala de Satisfação com a Vida (SWL), Escala de Afeto Positivo e Afeto Negativo (PANAS), Questionário de Preocupação da Pensilvânia (PSWQ) e Índice de Religiosidade de DUKE (DUREL). Resultados: A amostra foi composta por 417 estudantes de medicina (73,54% de todos os alunos matriculados). Os estudantes avaliados apresentaram nível médio de satisfação com a vida, baixos níveis de emoções positivas e altos níveis de ansiedade/preocupação. Surpreendentemente, menor ansiedade e escores de religiosidade intrínseca (IR) foram associados com maiores pontuações nos dois parâmetros de BES (emoções positivas e satisfação com a vida). Além disso, os fatores atividades de lazer, boa qualidade do sono, apoio financeiro, idade e sexo foram associados aos maiores escores do BES (com componentes emocionais e cognitivos, ou apenas um deles). Conclusão: Os dados do presente estudo corroboraram a associação negativa entre BES e ansiedade; no entanto, contrariamente à literatura, eles também evidenciaram uma associação negativa entre BES e IR. Além disso, a presente pesquisa sinalizou a necessidade de criar programas de intervenção preventiva para aumentar o BES por meio de técnicas psicológicas positivas e/ou diminuir a ansiedade aplicando, por exemplo, paradigmas de terapia cognitivo-comportamental e/ou técnicas de mindfulness a estudantes de medicina.

Palavras-chave

Estudantes de medicina, ansiedade, psicologia médica, felicidade, espiritualidade

References

Bore M, Kelly B, Nair B. Potential predictors of psychological distress and well-being in medical students: a cross-sectional pilot study. Adv Med Educ Pract. 2016;7:125-35.

Dyrbye LN, West CP, Satele D, Boone S, Tan L, Sloan J. Burnout among U.S. medical students, residents, and early career physicians relative to the general U.S. population. Acad Med. 2014;89:443-51.

Wood DF. Mens sana in corpore sano: student well-being and the development of resilience. Med Educ. 2016;50:20-3.

Yusoff MS, Abdul Rahim AF, Baba AA, Ismail SB, Mat Pa MN, Esa AR. Prevalence and associated factors of stress, anxiety and depression among prospective medical students. Asian J Psychiatr. 2013;6:128-33.

Schwenk TL, Davis L, Wimsatt LA. Depression, stigma, and suicidal ideation in medical students. JAMA. 2010;304:1181-90.

Nuria PG, Attilio RR, Marcela BC. Aplicando psicología positiva en educación médica. Rev Med Chile. 2011;139:941-9.

Shi M, Liu L, Wang ZY, Wang L. Prevalence of depressive symptoms and its correlations with positive psychological variables among Chinese medical students: an exploratory cross-sectional study. BMC Psychiatry. 2016;16:3.

Henna E, Zilberman ML, Gorenstein C. Instrumentos de avaliação do bem-estar. Instrumentos de avaliação em saúde mental. 2016:456-61.

Machado L, Tavares H, Petribú K, Zilberman M, Torres RF, Cantilino A. Happiness and health in psychiatry: what are their implications?. Arch Clin Psychiatry (Sao Paulo). 2015;42:100-10.

Machado L, Cantilino A. Neural correlates of wellbeing scales: preliminary data. Aust N Z J Psychiatry. 2017;51:946.

Lyubomirsky S, King L, Diener E. The benefits of frequent positive affect: does happiness lead to success?. Psychol Bull. 2005;131:803-55.

Bertolazi AN. Tradução, adaptação cultural e validação de dois instrumentos de avaliação do sono: escala de sonolência de Epworth e índice de qualidade de sono [dissertation]. 2008.

Abdo CHN. Elaboração e validação do quociente sexual - versão masculina, uma escala para avaliar a função sexual do homem. Rev Bras Med. 2006;63:42-6.

Abdo CHN. Elaboração e validação do quociente sexual - versão feminina: uma escala para avaliar a função sexual da mulher. Rev Bras Med. 2006;63:477-82.

Laranjeira CA. Preliminary validation study of the Portuguese version of the satisfaction with life scale. Psychol Health Med. 2009;14:220-6.

Zanon C, Bardagi MP, Layous K, Hutz CS. Validation of the satisfaction with life scale to Brazilians: evidences of measurement noninvariance across Brazil and US. Soc Indic Res. 2014;119:443-53.

Carvalho HW, Andreoli SB, Lara DR, Patrick CJ, Quintana MI, Bressan RA. Structural validity and reliability of the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS): evidence from a large Brazilian community sample. Rev Bras Psiquiatr. 2013;35:169-72.

Giacomoni CH, Hutz CS. A mensuração do bem-estar subjetivo: escala de afeto positivo e negativo e escala de satisfação de vida [poster]. Congresso da Sociedade Interamericana de Psicologia. 1997.

Watson D, Clark LA, Tellegen A. Development and validation of brief measures of positive and negative affect: the PANAS scales. J Pers Soc Psychol. 1988;54:1063-70.

Castillo C, Macrini L, Cheniaux E, Landeira-Fernandez J. Psychometric properties and latent structure of the Portuguese version of the Penn State Worry Questionnaire. Span J Psychol. 2010;13:431-43.

Taunay TCD, Gondim FAA, Macedo DS, Moreira-Almeida A, Gurgel LA, Andrade LMS. Validação da versão brasileira da escala de religiosidade de Duke (DUREL). Rev Psiquiatr Clin. 2012;39:130-5.

Hutz C. Avaliação em psicologia positiva. 2014.

Bassols AM, Okabayashi LS, Silva AB, Carneiro BB, Feijó F, Guimarães GC. First- and last-year medical students: is there a difference in the prevalence and intensity of anxiety and depressive symptoms?. Rev Bras Psiquiatr. 2014;36:233-40.

Brenneisen Mayer F, Souza Santos I, Silveira PS, Itaqui Lopes MH, de Souza AR, Campos EP. Factors associated to depression and anxiety in medical students: a multicenter study. BMC Med Educ. 2016;16:282.

Koenig HG. Religion, spirituality, and health: the research and clinical implications. ISRN Psychiatry. 2012;2012:278730.

Koenig HG. Medicina, religião e saúde: o encontro da ciência e da espiritualidade. 2012.

Levin J. Deus, fé e saúde. 2003.

Curcio CSS, Lucchetti G, Moreira-Almeida A. Instrumentos de avaliação de religiosidade e espiritualidade. Instrumentos de avaliação em saúde mental. 2015:464-9.

Abdel-Khalek AM. Quality of life, subjective well-being, and religiosity in Muslim college students. Qual Life Res. 2010;19:1133-43.

Abdel-Khalek AM. Subjective well-being and religiosity in Egyptian college students. Psychol Rep. 2011;108:54-8.

Sahraian A, Gholami A, Javadpour A, Omidvar B. Association between religiosity and happiness among a group of Muslim undergraduate students. J Relig Health. 2013;52:450-3.

Vasegh S, Mohammadi MR. Religiosity, anxiety, and depression among a sample of Iranian medical students. Int J Psychiatry Med. 2007;37:213-27.

Wacholtz A, Rogoff M. The relationship between spirituality and burnout among medical students. J Contemp Med Educ. 2013;1:83-91.

Berthold A, Ruch W. Satisfaction with life and character strengths of non-religious and religious people: it's practicing one's religion that makes the difference. Front Psychol. 2014;5:876.

Kjeldstadli K, Tyssen R, Finset A, Hem E, Gude T, Gronvold NT. Life satisfaction and resilience in medical school––a six-year longitudinal, nationwide and comparative study. BMC Med Educ. 2006;6:48.

Morrison J, Moffat K. More on medical student stress. Med Educ. 2001;35:617-8.

Wang F, Orpana HM, Morrison H, de Groh M, Dai S, Luo W. Long-term association between leisure-time physical activity and changes in happiness: analysis of the Prospective National Population Health Survey. Am J Epidemiol. 2012;176:1095-100.

Simon CR, Durand-Bush N. Differences in psychological and affective well-being between physicians and resident physicians: does high and low self-regulation capacity matter?. Psychol Well Being. 2014;4:19.

Chylová H, Natovová L. Stress, self-efficacy and well-being of the university students. ERIES J. 2013;6:190-202.

Denovan A, Macaskill A. Stress and subjective well-being among first year UK. J Happiness Stud. 2017;18:505-25.

Tolhurst HM, Stewart SM. Balancing work, family and other lifestyle aspects: a qualitative study of Australian medical students' attitudes. Med J Aust. 2004;181:361-4.

Ratelle CF, Simard K, Guay F. University students' subjective well-being: the role of autonomy support from parents, friends, and the romantic partner. J Happiness Stud. 2013;14:893-910.

Machado L, Tavares H, Petribú K, Pinto T, Cantilino A. Happiness and defense styles in psychiatrists. J Nerv Ment Dis. 2016;204:181-7.

Schnell A, Albrecht U, Sandrelli F. Rhythm and mood: relationships between the circadian clock and mood-related behavior. Behav Neurosci. 2014;128:326-43.

Farzianpour F, Eshraghian M, Emami A, Hosseini SS, Hosseini SS, Farhud D. An estimate of happiness among students of Tehran university of medical sciences: a means for policy making in management of health system. Iran Red Crescent Med J. 2011;13:841-3.

Amr M, Hady El Gilany A, El-Hawary A. Does gender predict medical students' stress in Mansoura, Egypt?. Med Educ Online. 2008;13:12.

Wray N, McCall L. Money matters: Students' perceptions of the costs associated with placements. Med Educ. 2007;41:975-81.

Bassols AMS, Carneiro BB, Guimarães GC, Okabayashi LMS, Carvalho FG, da Silva AB. Stress and coping in a sample of medical students in Brazil. Arch Clin Psychiatry (Sao Paulo). 2015;42:1-5.

Cantilino A, Zambaldi CF, Sougey EB, Rennó Jr. J. Transtornos psiquiátricos no pós-parto. Rev Psiquiatr Clin. 2010;37:278-84.

Dias R da S, Tess VLC. Transtornos psiquiátricos relacionados ao ciclo reprodutivo da mulher. Clínica psiquiátrica: a visão do departamento e instituto de psiquiatria do HCFMUSP. 2011:658-66.

Saeed AA, Bahnassy AA, Al-Hamdan NA, Almudhaibery FS, Alyahya AZ. Perceived stress and associated factors among medical students. J Family Community Med. 2016;23:166-71.

Coentre R, Faravelli C, Figueira ML. Assessment of depression and suicidal behaviour among medical students in Portugal. Int J Med Educ. 2016;7:354-63.

Miller GD, Kemmelmeier M, Dupey P. Gender differences in worry during medical school. Med Educ. 2013;47:932-41.

Bjørnskov C. Healthy and happy in Europe? On the association between happiness and life expectancy over time. Soc Sci Med. 2008;66:1750-9.

Lehmann BA, Bos AE, Rijken M, Cardol M, Peters GJ, Kok G. Ageing with an intellectual disability: the impact of personal resources on well-being. J Intellect Disabil Res. 2013;57:1068-78.

6169be00a953954d12726284 trends Articles
Links & Downloads
2238-0019 (Electronic)
Trends Psychiatry Psychother ©2024 All rights reserved.

Trends Psychiatry Psychother

Share this page
Page Sections