The roles of emotional intelligence, neuroticism, and academic stress on the relationship between psychological distress and burnout in medical students

BACKGROUND: Stress and burnout commonly threaten the mental health of medical students in Malaysia and elsewhere. This study aimed to explore the interrelations of psychological distress, emotional intelligence, personality traits, academic stress, and burnout among medical students.

METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted with 241 medical students. Validated questionnaires were administered to measure burnout, psychological distress, emotional intelligence, personality traits, and academic stress, respectively. A structural equation modelling analysis was performed by AMOS.

RESULTS: The results suggested a structural model with good fit indices, in which psychological distress and academic stress were noted to have direct and indirect effects on burnout. The burnout levels significantly increased with the rise of psychological distress and academic stress. Neuroticism was only found to have significant indirect effects on burnout, whereby burnout increased when neuroticism increased. Emotional intelligence had a significant direct effect on lowering burnout with the incremental increase of emotional intelligence, but it was significantly reduced by psychological distress and neuroticism.

CONCLUSION: This study showed significant effects that psychological distress, emotional intelligence, academic stress, and neuroticism have on burnout. Academic stress and neuroticism significantly increased psychological distress, leading to an increased burnout level, while emotional intelligence had a significant direct effect on reducing burnout; however, this relationship was compromised by psychological distress and neuroticism, leading to increased burnout. Several practical recommendations for medical educators, medical students, and medical schools are discussed.