Relationship between self-esteem and mental health of medical students: mediating effect of psychological flexibility / 中华医学教育探索杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective:To explore the relation among self-esteem, psychological flexibility and mental health in medical students, and to provide scientific reference for mental health education for medical students.Methods:A total of 788 medical students selected from a medical university in Chongqing City were investigated with the symptom checklist 90 (SCL-90), self-esteem scale (SES), acceptance and action questionnaire-Ⅱ (AAQ-Ⅱ), and cognitive fusion questionnaire-fusion (CFQ-F). SPSS 22.0 software was used for statistical analysis. T test, ANOVA, correlation analysis and tests for mediation effects were conducted. Results:There were significant differences in self-esteem and mental health level among medical students in gender and different grades ( t=-2.55, P<0.05; F=6.53, P<0.05). Mental health, self-esteem and psychological flexibility of medical students were correlated in pairs ( r=-0.528-0.694, P<0.01). Psychological flexibility played a partial mediation role between self-esteem and mental health of medical students, and the mediating effect accounted for 60.03% of the total effect. Conclusion:Self-esteem can directly predict the mental health of medical students, and can also indirectly affect mental health through psychological flexibility. Medical universities should carry out psychological education and promotion work with pertinence.