Frontiers in Educational Research, 2025, 8(1); doi: 10.25236/FER.2025.080105.
Qiuyue Wang1, Jian Xiao2
1Cixi Biomedical Research Institute, Wenzhou Medical University, Ningbo, China
2Graduate School of Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou, China
To understand the developmental trajectories of mental health among graduate students in a medical school in China over a 3-year period, and explore the relationship with supervisor support, in order to provide a scientific basis for promoting the mental health of graduate students in medical schools. For the longitudinal study, 448 graduate students from different classes of the 2020 class in a medical school in China were selected using a cluster sampling method. The UPI (University Personality Inventory) Scale was administered to the participants in September 2020, both the UPI Scale and the Supervisor Support Scale were administered again in June 2023. The developmental trajectories of mental health among graduate students in a medical school were categorized into four groups: healthy group (78.35%), deterioration group (9.6%), improvement group (6.92%), and persistent underlying psychological symptoms group (9.13%). Supervisor support and type of specialty were statistically significant between the four groups (p<0.05). The results of logistic regression analysis showed that graduate students in clinical specialties were more likely to experience deterioration (OR = 2.415; 95% CI: 1.257-4.643) or improvement (OR = 2.622; 95% CI: 1.238-5.553) in their mental health. Compared to high supervisor support, low supervisor support was more likely to make graduate students in a medical school, to experience deterioration mental health (OR = 3.622, 95% CI: 1.52-8.631) and persistent underlying psychological symptoms (OR=5.661; 95% CI: 1.556-20.591). From enrolment to graduation, the prevalence of psychological symptoms among graduate students in a medical school showed an increasing trend. Low supervisor support can predict the developmental trajectory of their mental health status, suggesting that universities should develop effective measures to improve supervisor support and alleviate the mental health problems of graduate students.
supervisor support; graduate students; mental health
Qiuyue Wang, Jian Xiao. The relationship between supervisor support and the developmental trajectories of mental health among graduate students in a medical school. Frontiers in Educational Research (2025) Vol. 8, Issue 1: 29-35. https://doi.org/10.25236/FER.2025.080105.
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