Prevention of mental health problems among future doctors: A controlled group intervention study among medical students in Bergen

Abstract

Background:

Stress and mental health problems is common among medical students, but we lack studies of intervention programmes during medical school.

Design and Methods

The students participated in one of two group session programmes during their third year at medical school. One option was a self-development programme delivered by trained group therapists. Alternatively the students chose a programme focusing on themes of special relevance to doctors. The format was one and a half hours' group sessions, once weekly, altogether 12 times. The baseline data were gathered before the intervention (T1).We studied the effect 3 months post intervention (T2), in this first follow-up paper. One class (N= 128) of medical students were given the group intervention programmes. The next year class (comparison group) received no intervention (N= 152). The main outcome of this study was Perceived Medical School Stress (PMSS), which has been linked to anxiety and depression, as well as need for treatment. We used multilevel linear model (repeated measures) to test for differences over time.

Results:

Both the intervention and the comparison groups showed a decline in PMSS from T1 to T2. There was an interaction between time and the intervention, and this indicates a significant effect (P=0.01) of the intervention. We found this effect due to the participation in the self-development groups (P=0.009). All effects were controlled for age and gender.

Implications

The self-development groups have a beneficial effect on stress among the students in a three months follow-up.