The mediating role of self-compassion and repetitive negative thinking in the relationship between perfectionism and burnout in health-field students: A prospective study

Abstract

Burnout negatively affects around 40 % of medical and dentistry students, a group with high levels of perfectionism, repetitive negative thinking (RNT) and low self-compassion. So far, literature has highlighted the beneficial effects of mindfulness and self-compassion-based interventions on reducing psychological distress; nevertheless, the relationship between perfectionism, self-compassion, RNT and burnout has not yet been studied in this population with a prospective study design. The aim of this prospective study was to analyse the role of perfectionism, self-compassion and RNT on burnout levels in medical and dentistry students after approximately one year and a half. 202 medical and dentistry students answered in T0 and T1 (after 18 months) to a self-report questionnaire that included measures to assess perfectionism, RNT, self-compassion, and burnout. Perfectionism, RNT and self-compassion correlated significantly with each other, and all correlated with Burnout. In mediation analyses, total perfectionism at T0 predicted burnout at T1, both directly and indirectly, through the mediating effect of self-compassion and RNT at T0. This study reinforces recent findings that self-compassion is a mediator of the relationship between perfectionism and burnout and adds that RNT also plays an important role in this predictive pathway.