Mental Health and Related Factors Among Japanese Graduate Trainees in Clinical Psychology

This study examined the mental health and related factors such as social comparison orientation, self-compassion, and perfectionism of 57 graduate trainees aspiring to become psychologists in comparison with 80 graduate students with other majors. The results showed that "Opinion comparison" subscale of social comparison orientation was significantly higher among trainees than among non-trainees, and higher among women than among men in both trainees and non-trainees. Social comparison orientation positively affects depressive symptoms, anxiety symptoms, and social function impairment among trainees but has no effect among non-trainees. Perfectionism was higher among first-year trainees than among second-year trainees, whereas no gradebased differences existed among non-trainees. Perfectionism positively affected social function impairment among non-trainees but not among trainees. However, self-compassion negatively affected depressive symptoms, anxiety symptoms, and social function impairment among both trainees and non-trainees. Furthermore, 89% of the trainees blamed themselves during practical training, expressing that both the trigger and content of selfblame were related to hesitation, anxiety, and lack of confidence. Overall, the results suggest that trainees should aim for personal growth over perfection, enhance their self-compassion rather than blaming themselves, and should not engage in social comparison. J. Med. Invest. 72 : 217-223, February, 2025.