Coping behaviour in medical residents

Abstract

Background and aims:

The residency is one of the most stressful periods in medical practice and entails different psycopathological disorders. Individual type of adaptation plays an important role in the pychological response to this situations.

The aims are to describe the coping behaviour used during the residency period, and to analyze the factors related to them.

Methods:

Cross-sectional study in 145 residents, in wich we valued sociodemographic data, psychopatholy (GHQ Goldberg), personality dimensions (16PF-A Cattell), psychic antecedent and coping behaviour (Lazarus and Folkman, 1986). A descriptive, comparative and a Pearson correlation study was performed.

Results:

The sociodemographic variables and the frecuency of the coping behaviors used are detailed in table. We described their relation with personality features and sociodemographic variables, and the coping associated with psychic antecedent and psychopathology.

Conclusions:

The more used behaviors were those directed towards Planful problem-solving, Seeking social support, Self-controlling, Positive reappraisal, Confrontive coping and Distraction. Coping behaviour are related with various factors that probably caused them, being personality features outstanding. The socio-demographic variables also are related, and in women are more frecuent Seeking social support and Selfaward.

Although this study, due to its transversal structure, can not establish a causal relationship between coping behaviour and the presence of psychopathology, we observed that the latest one was associated with Selfblame, Distancing and Avoidance behaviors and could be considered as inefficient strategies. In those with personal psychic antecedents, Distraction and Selfaward behaviors were outstanding, although this mechanisms were not related to psychopathology.