The Effects of Coping Style on Subjective Well-Being Among Medical Students

Ko, Jinkyung; Yoon, Tai Young; Park, Jaehyun

Abstract

PURPOSE: This study aims to explore which coping strategies medical students use more often, and how coping styles account for medical students' subjective well-being.
METHODS
Subjects included 249 medical students from undergraduate and Graduate Entry Programme of a medical school in Seoul, Korea. Coping style was measured using the Ways of Coping Checklist. Subjective well-being was measured with Positive/Negative Affect Scale and Satisfaction with Life Scale. Analysis of Variance(ANOVA) was used to compare four coping strategies, and stepwise multiple regression was used to analyze the accountability of each of the coping strategy for subjective well-being.
RESULTS
Medical students used avoidance and problem-focused coping strategy more often than they used emotion-focused coping strategy and seeking social support. Graduate Entry Programme students used avoidance less often and seeking social support more often than undergraduate students. Among subscales of subjective well-being, positive affect can be accounted for by problem-focused coping and seeking social support, and negative affect can be accounted for by problem-focused coping and avoidance. Life satisfaction can be accounted for by problem-focused coping as well.
CONCLUSION
The results of this study showed that medical students had high adaptability as well as strong anxiety toward stressful situations in medical school. Moreover, three among the four coping strategies accounted for medical students' subjective well-being. These findings should be considered as a baseline for future research looking into additional variables affecting medical students' well-being.