Prevalence and predictive factors for depressive symptoms among medical students in Germany – a cross-sectional study
Lilith Pukas, Nadja Rabkow, Lea Keuch, Emilia Ehring, Stephan Fuchs, Dietrich Stoevesandt, Alexandra Sapalidis, Angelina Pelzer, Carolin Rehnisch, Stefan Watzke
Abstract
Every fifth medical student surveyed reported at least mild depressive symptoms. The majority of the surveyed medical students felt unable to confide their worries to someone else and lamented not having enough time for social interaction with peers, family and hobbies. Certain personality traits - such as neuroticism - and insufficient emotional support showed to play important roles in making medical students more prone to developing depressive symptoms. Based on this research, control of the surveyed cofactors associated with depressive symptoms and possible intervention programs targeted to these are proposed to be a key subject of further research.