title: Looking beyond personal stressors: an examination of how academic stressors contribute to depression in Australian graduate medical students.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Medical school is a challenging environment that requires students to deal effectively with stress borne out of the medical education environment, as well as their personal lives. Previous research has not systemically distinguished between academic and personal sources of stress, and in particular has not explored the independent contribution that academic stressors make to medical student depression.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  This study aimed to investigate whether academic stressors make a unique contribution to the level of depressive symptoms in medical students, over and above the contribution made by personal stressors alone.
  
  
  METHODS
  Sixty-seven medical students completed an online questionnaire designed to measure the total number of recent life events (personal and academic), and their perceived impact, using a modified version of the Psychiatric Epidemiology Research Interview Life Events Scale. Depressive symptoms were measured using the Centre for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Both the total number of personal stressors, r(67) = .363, p = .003, and their perceived impact, r(67) = .412, p = .001, were found to be positively related to depressive symptoms. A positive relationship was also observed between depressive symptoms and the total number of academic stressors, r(67) = .321, p = .008, and their perceived impact, r(67) = .489, p < .001. In addition, it was found that the perceived impact of academic stressors was able to explain higher levels of depressive symptoms in medical students over and above the effect afforded by personal stressors alone.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The findings of this study suggest that stress borne out of the medical school environment contributes to depressive symptoms in medical students over and above the contribution made by personal stressors alone. This indicates that although it is important to help students cope with stress borne out of their personal lives, interventions by medical schools aimed at reducing the impact of academic stressors on medical student depression may also be of great importance.
authors.affiliation: a ANU Medical School , Australian National University , Canberra , Australia.
authors.forename: Erin
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: O'Reilly
authors.forename: Kathleen G
authors.initials: KG
authors.lastname: McNeill
authors.forename: Kenneth I
authors.initials: KI
authors.lastname: Mavor
authors.forename: Katrina
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Anderson
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D020958:Australian Capital Territory; D003863:Depression / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000209:etiology*; D004503:Education, Medical, Graduate; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000150:complications*; D013337:Students, Medical / Q000523:psychology*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D055815:Young Adult