Relationship between self-esteem, assertiveness, and patient-perceived communication in dental students: a...

In today's rapidly changing world, soft skills are essential in both academic and professional settings, as they facilitate effective interaction, clear communication, and adaptation to diverse labour markets. This study aimed to determine the relationship between the self-esteem and assertiveness of undergraduate students and the communication perceived by patients seen in the dental clinic of a Peruvian university.

A cross-sectional study was conducted with a sample of 198 students and 198 patients. The validated questionnaires, "Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale" and the "Rathus Assertiveness Schedule", were used for the students. Further, the CAT Questionnaire, Communication Assessment Tool, was used for patients. Sociodemographic characteristics were recorded for both groups. Descriptive statistics were used to describe the scores of assertiveness, self-esteem, and communication variables. For inferential analysis, the relationships among self-esteem, assertiveness, and communication were assessed via Spearman's Rho test. Comparisons with sociodemographic variables were performed via the Mann-Whitney U, Kruskal-Wallis, and Pearson chi-square tests. Poisson regression models with robust variance were applied.

Self-esteem, assertiveness, and communication had means ± standard deviations of 30.53 ± 5.74, -2.43 ± 22.12, and 63.69 ± 7.28, respectively. A significant relationship was found between self-esteem and assertiveness (p < 0.001, Rho = 0.598), but no significant relationships were observed for self-esteem and assertiveness with communication (p > 0.05).

No relationship was observed between the self-esteem and assertiveness of undergraduate students and the communication perceived by patients.