Impact of COVID-19-induced academic stress on insomnia and suicidal ideation among Taiwanese health trainees and junior doctors

Huang, P-C, Lin, C-Y, Huang, R-Y, Chen, J-S, Potenza, MN, Strong, C, Wang, H-W, Griffiths, MD ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8880-6524, Chen, C-Y, Ko, N-Y and Shieh, S-J, 2024. Impact of COVID-19-induced academic stress on insomnia and suicidal ideation among Taiwanese health trainees and junior doctors. Medical Science Monitor, 30: e944932. ISSN 1643-3750

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Abstract

BACKGROUND: Clinical training for allied health trainees (AHTs) and postgraduate-year (PGY) doctors needed to go online during the outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), which may have caused academic stress and consequent outcomes among this cohort.

MATERIAL AND METHODS: To evaluate academic-related stress, clinical confidence, psychological distress, and insomnia, an online survey-based study was conducted among Taiwanese AHTs and PGY doctors between July and December, 2022, during the COVID-19 pandemic. The survey included the 21-item Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scale (DASS-21), the Insomnia Severity Index (ISI), and self-designed questions. It was distributed using convenience sampling and snowball sampling and was completed by 522 participants.

RESULTS: Structural equational modelling showed that academic stress was negatively associated with clinical confidence (standardized coefficient [β]=-0.382, p<0.001). Clinical confidence was negatively associated with psychological distress (β=-0.397, p<0.001), which was associated with insomnia (β=0.648, p<0.001). Additionally, clinical confidence and psychological distress were the significant mediators. Results indicated that higher academic stress was associated with higher level of insomnia via the mediation of clinical confidence and psychological distress.

CONCLUSIONS: Academic stress related to changes in clinical training may have led to insomnia among AHTs and PGY doctors during the pandemic. Factors to reduce academic stress should be investigated to promote good mental health while providing sufficient clinical training, especially during events that can cause increased stress (eg, epidemics, pandemics).

Item Type:	Journal article
Publication Title:	Medical Science Monitor
Creators:	Huang, P.-C., Lin, C.-Y., Huang, R.-Y., Chen, J.-S., Potenza, M.N., Strong, C., Wang, H.-W., Griffiths, M.D., Chen, C.-Y., Ko, N.-Y. and Shieh, S.-J.
Publisher:	International Scientific Information, Inc.
Date:	24 June 2024
Volume:	30
ISSN:	1643-3750
Identifiers:	Number Type 10.12659/MSM.944932 DOI 1906770 Other
Rights:	© Med Sci Monit, 2024. This work is licensed under Creative Common Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0).
Divisions:	Schools > School of Social Sciences
Record created by:	Melissa Cornwell
Date Added:	02 Jul 2024 10:09
Last Modified:	02 Jul 2024 10:09
URI:	https://irep.ntu.ac.uk/id/eprint/51668

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