Comprehensive assessment of the long-term stressful event impacts on the mental health of medical students
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.14739/2310-1210.2025.1.313901Abstract
The aim of the study was to examine the impact of long-term exposure to stressful events (the COVID-19 pandemic and prolonged martial law) on the mental health of medical students.
Material and methods. The study was conducted among 4th–5th-year education applicants at Dnipro State Medical University (DSMU), specialty 222 “Medicine”. Group 1 consisted of 67 students examined in 2019, and Group 2 comprised 61 students examined in 2024. Clinical-anamnestic, clinical-psychopathological and psychodiagnostic examinations were conducted. The following psychometric scales were used: PHQ-9 health questionnaire, Dutch Eating Behavior Questionnaire (DEBQ), State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI; C. D. Spielberger, Y. L. Hanin), Michigan Alcoholism Screening Test (MAST), Quality of Life Enjoyment and Satisfaction Questionnaire (Q-LES-Q).
Results. The data obtained have shown a statistically significant difference in alcohol screening indicators between the two groups of examinees. According to the questionnaire, students surveyed in 2024 have reported consuming less alcohol. In general, the findings from both groups have revealed normal weight, restrained and emotional eating behavior (EB) traits, absence of alcoholism, and a moderate level of the quality of life index (QOL). However, mild depression, a tendency towards externalizing EB, and a moderate level of trait anxiety have been found among the examinees. The statistical analysis results have shown a weak effect of high trait anxiety (0.135) on the development of clinically significant depression. An analysis of relative risks and odds ratios has found increased relative risks and odds ratios for poor QOL indices and clinically significant depression among individuals examined in 2024 based on a several-fold increase in these values for the indicator “High trait anxiety”.
Conclusions. Our study has demonstrated an increased strength of associations between factors (emotional eating, high trait anxiety) that influenced the onset of clinically significant depression and an increase in relative risks and odds ratios of its development among the students surveyed in 2024. A small effect of long-term stressful events (the COVID-19 pandemic and prolonged martial law) on the factors of clinically significant depression has been found. In such extreme conditions, medical students of DSMU have demonstrated a high level of stress resilience in the conditions of long-term exposure to extreme stressful events, which was confirmed by our study results revealing no significant deterioration in the mental health and quality of life in 2024 student sample compared to 2019 one.
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