Parental Support, Personality, Self-efficacy as Predictors for Depression among Medical Students

Depression is more frequently experienced among medical students than in the general population. In addition, medical training seems to have a negative impact on students’ mental health. The main objective of this study was therefore to determine the effects of parental support, personality, and self-efficacy on depression among medical students. This study also sought to find out the effects of parental support and personality on self-efficacy. Participants were 1,029 first to fifth year medical students in seven universities in peninsular Malaysia. A set of questionnaires comprised of Career-Related Parent Support Scale, NEO Personality Inventory-Revised, College Self-Efficacy Scale, and Beck Depression Inventory were used to measure parental support, personality, self-efficacy and depression respectively. Results of multiple regression analysis showed that conscientiousness, extraversion and neuroticism predicted self-efficacy while self-efficacy, neuroticism, and conscientiousness predicted depression. The implication of this study indicated that in order to ensure success of medical students, selection of students into medical study program should not solely be based on their academic excellence but on their personalities as well