Reduced Gritty Perseverance Partially Explains the Relationship Between Overinvolved Parenting and Stress in...

Area of Science:

• Medical Education
• Psychology
• Health Sciences

Background:

• Noncognitive factors significantly influence academic success and well-being.
• Understanding these factors is crucial for supporting graduate students in demanding programs like physician assistant (PA) studies.
• Previous research has explored stress and academic performance, but the interplay of specific noncognitive factors in PA students requires further investigation.

Purpose of the Study:

• To examine the predictive roles of socioeconomic status (SES), overinvolved parenting, and grit in relation to perceived stress and grade point average (GPA) among PA students.
• To investigate potential mediating effects of grit on the relationship between noncognitive factors and student outcomes.
• To identify demographic differences in reported noncognitive factors within a PA student cohort.

Main Methods:

• A cross-sectional survey design was employed, involving 98 physician assistant (PA) students.
• Participants completed validated questionnaires assessing SES, overinvolved parenting, grit (passion and perseverance), self-reported GPA, and perceived stress.
• Statistical analyses were conducted to explore relationships and mediation effects.

Main Results:

• Physician assistant (PA) students under 25 years old reported higher levels of overinvolved parenting compared to older students.
• Lower socioeconomic status (SES) was a significant predictor of increased perceived stress.
• Grit (perseverance) partially mediated the association between overinvolved parenting and perceived stress, even after controlling for SES. Neither parenting style nor grit demonstrated a significant association with GPA.

Conclusions:

• Younger PA students are more likely to experience overinvolved parenting.
• The link between overinvolved parenting and heightened perceived stress in PA school is, in part, attributable to diminished gritty resilience.
• Noncognitive factors, particularly grit, play a role in the stress experienced by PA students, though their direct impact on GPA was not observed in this study.