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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Psychol.
Sec. Educational Psychology
Volume 15 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1483090
This article is part of the Research Topic Along the Path to Recovery: Supporting Student Learning Motivation, Engagement and Development in Post-Pandemic Higher Education View all 3 articles

Achievement motivation and mental health among medical students: the chain mediating effect of self-esteem and perceived stress*

Provisionally accepted
Muyun MA Muyun MA 1Yao Li Yao Li 1Li Guo Li Guo 1Guan-e Yang Guan-e Yang 1,2*
  • 1 Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, Shanxi Medical University, Taiyuan, Shanxi Province, China
  • 2 Shanxi Medical University, Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Tai Yuan, China

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Medical postgraduates generally experience high levels of depression and anxiety. Previous studies have investigated the impact of various achievement motivations on depression/anxiety among medical students. This study focused on self-esteem and perceived stress, examining the internal mechanisms through which achievement motivation affects depression/anxiety. 530 medical postgraduate students (66.04% female and 33.96% male) were administered the Achievement Goal Orientation Scale, Self-Esteem Scale, Perceived Stress Scale, and Depression-Anxiety-Stress Scale. Results indicated that: (1) Mastery-approach goals were negatively correlated with depression/anxiety; Mastery-avoidance goals were positively correlated with depression/anxiety; Performance-avoidance goals positively predicted depression/anxiety;(2)Self-esteem mediated the relationship between achievement motivation and depression/anxiety;(3)Perceived stress played a mediating role in the relationship between achievement motivation and depression/anxiety; (4) Self-esteem and perceived stress played a chain mediating role in the relationship between achievement motivation and depression/anxiety; (5) There was no significant linear correlation between mastery-approach goals and depression/anxiety. The cross-sectional design was adopted in the present study. The measurement of self-report scales was influenced by the social approval effect. The research findings reveal a mediating pathway between achievement goals and mental health, offering new insights into mental health education for medical graduate students.

    Keywords: achievement motivation, Depression, Anxiety, self-esteem, perceived stress

    Received: 19 Aug 2024; Accepted: 04 Oct 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 MA, Li, Guo and Yang. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Guan-e Yang, Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, Shanxi Medical University, Taiyuan, 030001, Shanxi Province, China

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.