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Background <p>Mental health problems among medical students have been widely acknowledged and research shows that problems such as depression may occur from the outset of medical education. However, there are few studies focusing on the correlations between personality traits and depression among preclinical medical students. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between big five personality traits and depression and to explore the mediating role of self-compassion in this relationship among preclinical medical students.</p> Methods <p>This is a multicenter cross-sectional study. First-year and second-year undergraduate preclinical medical students (<i>N =</i> 730) from three medical universities in China participated in this study and completed questionnaires including NEO-Five Factor Inventory (NFFI), Self-Compassion Scale (SCS), Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D) and demographic information. Statistical analyses included scale reliability analysis, descriptive statistics analysis, the Student’s t-test, one-way ANOVA, Pearson’s correlation analysis, hierarchical linear regression analysis and bootstrap mediation analysis.</p> Results <p>Almost one third of preclinical medical students (30.3%) were found to be depressed and males were more likely to suffer from depression compared with females (<i>p</i> &lt; 0.05). After the adjustment of age and gender, big five personality traits and self-compassion combined accounted for a large proportion (47.4%) in the variance of depression. Self-compassion played a partial mediating role in the relationship between extraversion, conscientiousness, neuroticism and depression and a full mediating role in the association of agreeableness with depression.</p> Conclusions <p>This study found a high prevalence of depression among preclinical medical students and self-compassion had a significant mediating effect on the relationship between extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, neuroticism and depression. Medical institutions and related authorities need to consider implementing effective interventions to cultivate preclinical medical students’ self-compassion to protect them against depression and make them better prepared for the succeeding clinical study.</p>

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The mediating role of self-compassion in the relationship between big five personality traits and depression among Chinese preclinical medical students: a multicenter cross-sectional study

  • 期刊论文

  • 出版模式：

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  • 发表日期：

    2025年10月14日

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  • Qinghua Wang,
  • Xiaohong Cao,
  • Qiwen Tai

摘要

Background

Mental health problems among medical students have been widely acknowledged and research shows that problems such as depression may occur from the outset of medical education. However, there are few studies focusing on the correlations between personality traits and depression among preclinical medical students. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between big five personality traits and depression and to explore the mediating role of self-compassion in this relationship among preclinical medical students.

Methods

This is a multicenter cross-sectional study. First-year and second-year undergraduate preclinical medical students (N = 730) from three medical universities in China participated in this study and completed questionnaires including NEO-Five Factor Inventory (NFFI), Self-Compassion Scale (SCS), Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D) and demographic information. Statistical analyses included scale reliability analysis, descriptive statistics analysis, the Student’s t-test, one-way ANOVA, Pearson’s correlation analysis, hierarchical linear regression analysis and bootstrap mediation analysis.

Results

Almost one third of preclinical medical students (30.3%) were found to be depressed and males were more likely to suffer from depression compared with females (p < 0.05). After the adjustment of age and gender, big five personality traits and self-compassion combined accounted for a large proportion (47.4%) in the variance of depression. Self-compassion played a partial mediating role in the relationship between extraversion, conscientiousness, neuroticism and depression and a full mediating role in the association of agreeableness with depression.

Conclusions

This study found a high prevalence of depression among preclinical medical students and self-compassion had a significant mediating effect on the relationship between extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, neuroticism and depression. Medical institutions and related authorities need to consider implementing effective interventions to cultivate preclinical medical students’ self-compassion to protect them against depression and make them better prepared for the succeeding clinical study.