Depression, Anxiety, Stress and Fear of Failure among Medical Students
1Umar Tipu, 2Dr. Seema Yasmeen, 3Mansoor Musa, 4Qamar Abbas, 5Isma Abbas, 6Faiza Maqsood
1Sir Gangaran Hospital Lahore.
2MBBS, MCPS, Associate Professor Community Medicine, Shahida Islam Medical and Dental College, Lodhran.
3 UHS Lahore
4UHS Lahore.
5UHS Lahore
6UHS Lahore.
ABSTRACT:
Background: Depression, anxiety or feelings of stress and fear of failure was identified as some of the common psychological problems among medical students that most of the times was caused by overt academic demands, competitive situations and high expectations. Such mental health issues were connected to the worse academic results, low well-being, and higher risks of dropping out. The awareness of the rates of the factors and their interactions was crucial in establishing feasible support tools and prevention of the factors.
Objective: The purpose of the study was to establish the frequency and the intensity of depression, anxiety, stress, and fear of failure among medical students and its interrelationship.
Methods: The present cross sectional study was carried out in Shahida Islam Medical and Dental College, Lodhran, in June 2024 to May 2025. A total of 100 medical students were chosen after a simple random sampling method. Structured and self-administered questionnaire based on initial validation of Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scale (DASS-21) and highly-validated Fear of Failure Scale were used to collect data. Also, demographic data were measured. The data obtained were examined with the help of descriptive and inferential statistics in order to identify the prevalence rates, the distribution of severity, as well as correlations between variables.
Results: The findings indicated that 58 percent of all the respondents were suffering moderate to severe depression, 64 percent of them were suffering moderate to severe anxiety, 52 percent had moderate to severe stress levels. The 61 percent of the students experienced the fear of failure with 38 percent having high levels of fear. There was a huge positive relationship between fear of failure and depression (p < 0.01), anxiety (p < 0.01) and stress (p < 0.05). The anxiety and stress partial means demonstrated by female students were higher than with male students, and the fear of failure partial means was greater in the final-year students as compared to the first- and second-year students.
Conclusion: The frequency of depression, anxiety, stress, and fear of failure were very high among the medical students, and there was a high connection within these psychological complications probably because fear of failure causes all other psychological issues. The findings indicated that early screening, counseling, stress management, and curriculum redesign to empower the mental health of medical students need to be implemented with immediate effect.
Keywords: Depression, Anxiety, Stress, Fear of Failure, Medical Students, Mental Health, Psychological Well-being.