Korean J Med Educ.  2011 Sep;23(3):167-174.

The Effects of Attribution Tendencies, Academic Stress, and Coping Efficacy on Academic Adjustment of Medical Students

Affiliations
  • 1Center for Teaching and Learning, Pusan National University, Busan, Korea.
  • 2Department of Medical Education, Gachon University School of Medicine, Incheon, Korea. ghpark@gachon.ac.kr
  • 3Department of Medical Education, Pusan National University Medical School, Busan, Korea.

Abstract

PURPOSE
This study investigated the relationship among types of attribution tendencies, academic stress, coping efficacy, and academic adjustment in medical students and identified the means by which the academic adjustment of medical students can improve.
METHODS
Four hundred forty-two subjects from 2 medical schools in Korea were analyzed; 202 were male, 206 were female, and 34 did not identify their gender. We surveyed their academic adjustment, attribution tendencies, academic stress, and coping efficacy. The data were analyzed by descriptive statistics, t-test, and stepwise multiple regression analysis.
RESULTS
The male group scored higher on academic adjustment, internal attribution tendency, and coping efficacy but lower on academic stress than the female group. Coping efficacy and internal attribution tendency affected the academic adjustment positively while academic stress influenced it negatively.
CONCLUSION
The study indicates that students with higher scores on coping efficacy and internal attribution tendency and who have lower scores on academic stress tend to adjust better academically in medical school. Therefore, these findings may be helpful for medical schools in designing effective academic adjustment programs to improve coping efficacy and internal attribution tendency and reduce academic stress. Further, these findings have important implications for planning learning consultation programs, especially in Year 1.

Keyword

Academic adjustment; Attribution tendencies; Academic stress; Coping efficacy; Medical student

MeSH Terms

Female
Humans
Korea
Learning
Male
Schools, Medical
Students, Medical
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