General Self-Efficacy Mediates the Effect of Family Socioeconomic Status on Critical Thinking in Chinese Medical Students.

Lei Huang,Ying Zeng,Xu-Dong Zhao,Yu-Jia Huang,Yun-Lin Liang,Jia-Xuan Li,Jiao-Jiao Hou,Jessica Thai

doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2018.02578

Abstract

Background: Critical thinking (CT) is an essential competence for medical students. Family socioeconomic status (family SES) and general self-efficacy (GSE) play crucial roles in the development of CT. However, the association among family SES, GSE, and CT in Chinese medical students has yet to be fully investigated.Objectives: To investigate the role of family SES and GSE in the development of CT in Chinese medical students.Methods: 1,338 medical students were recruited using multistage stratified cluster sampling from three institutions in China. The Chinese critical thinking disposition inventory (CTDI-CV), General Self-Efficacy Scale (GSES), and a self-made inventory assessing family SES were administered to collect data. The relationship between CT and family SES as well as GSE was evaluated by structural equation modeling.Results: Students of higher family SES obtained higher CTDI-CV and GSES scores. A positive correlation was found between family SES and CT (r = 0.101–0.141, p < 0.05 or p < 0.01), as well as between family SES and GSE (r = 0.111–0.129, p < 0.01). Moreover, GSE was moderately correlated with CT (r = 0.418, p < 0.01). The model of partial mediate effect of GSE showed the best fit index with X2 = 29.698, df = 9 and X2/df = 3.300, NFI = 0.990, IFI = 0.993, TLI = 0.984, CFI = 0.993, RMSEA = 0.041.Conclusion: Family SES has a positive albeit limited influence on GSE and CT in Chinese medical students. GSE mediates the effect of family SES on CT and plays a larger role. Enhancing medical student’ GSE maybe an efficacious way to improve medical students’ CT.

Highlights

Critical thinking (CT) is one of seven essential requirements for medical students (Core Committee Institute for International Medical Education, 2002)
No significant differences in CTDICV score were found between students from “low,” “average,” and “affluent” families, and between males and females in this study
Those from high family socioeconomic status (SES) families had higher general self-efficacy (GSE) and CT scores. These results echo a study performed in mainland China, which showed that family SES has a positive effect on GSE and found that college students from lower SES families had lower GSE scores and lower subjective well-being (Tong and Song, 2004)

Summary

Introduction

Critical thinking (CT) is one of seven essential requirements for medical students (Core Committee Institute for International Medical Education, 2002). Apart from educational factors, demographic and sociologic factors (i.e., age, gender, race, religion and marriage) are associated with CT in medical students. Previous studies have shown that personal characteristics such as cognition (Magno, 2010; Basbay, 2013), self-efficiency (Dehghani et al, 2011b; Gloudemans et al, 2013), personality traits (Clifford et al, 2004; Friedman, 2004; Ku and Ho, 2010), and environmental factors such as culture (Grosser and Lombard, 2008; Lun et al, 2010), family background (Chau-Klu et al, 2001), and work atmosphere (Mcallister and Mckinnon, 2009), are significantly associated with the development of CT. The association among family SES, GSE, and CT in Chinese medical students has yet to be fully investigated

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Conclusion