Identifying medical students at risk of underperformance from significant stressors

Stress is associated with poorer academic performance but identifying vulnerable students is less clear. A series of earthquakes and disrupted learning environments created an opportunity to explore the relationships among stress, student factors, support and academic performance within a medical course.

The outcomes were deviations from expected performances on end of year written and clinical examinations. The predictors were questionnaire-based measures of connectedness/support, impact of the earthquakes, safety, depression, anxiety, stress, resilience and personality.

The response rate was 77%. Poorer than expected performance on all examinations was associated with greater disruptions to living arrangements and fewer years in the country; on the written examination with not having a place to study; and on the clinical examination with relationship status, not having the support of others, less extroversion, and feeling less safe. There was a suggestion of a beneficial association with some markers of stress.

We show that academic performance is assisted by students having a secure physical and emotional base. The students who are most vulnerable are those with fewer social networks, and those who are recent immigrants.