Depressed Mood and Career Anchors in Russian Medical Students

Abstract

Introduction. People in helping professions are more prone to emotional burnout and depression. Even at the university level, future physicians experience an increase in depressed mood. Despite the fact that this problem has been studied quite extensively, the role of socio-cognitive factors has not yet been studied enough. The purpose of this research is to fill this gap and explore the relationship between career anchors and the level of depressed mood among Russian medical students. Materials and Methods. The survey was conducted in 2020 and 2021. The sample of the survey included 864 students of the SSMU named after V. I. Razumovsky. Methods used in the survey: the Zung Self-Rating Depression Scale (SDS), adapted by T. I. Balashova and the diagnosis of career anchors, using Schein’s Career Orientations Inventory (COI) in the adaptation of V. A. Chiker. Data analysis methods: Shapiro‒Wilk and Fligner‒Killeen tests, Wilcoxon‒Mann‒Whitney and Nemenyi tests, and biweightmidcorrelation analysis. The search for predictors of depressed mood was carried out using the method of generalized additive models. Results. Career anchors are predictors of depressed mood. Service orientation and professional competence reduce the severity of depressed mood, while the relationship is non-linear. The desire of students to integrate different areas of their lives and organize the activities of other people is negatively associated with depressed mood, but the relationship is linear. The severity of depressed mood is exacerbated by career anchoring on autonomy. Discussion and Conclusion. The results of the study contribute to the understanding of the complex relationship between depressiveness and socio-cognitive factors. The results of this study can be instrumental in the development of a set of measures reducing the risk of depression in medical professionals by studying at a university.