The Relationship Between Psychosocial Development and Burnout Among Medical Students in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia

Burnout is prevalent among medical students due to the demanding, academically and emotionally intensive nature of medical education. It is a psychological condition arising from persistent work-related stress and personal factors. According to Erikson's model, social interactions, and relationships are vital for psychosocial growth. This study aimed to examine the relationship between psychosocial development and burnout among male and female medical students across different academic phases.

A cross-sectional analytical study was conducted at King Saud bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences in Jeddah from May to September 2022. Participants completed electronic surveys containing demographic data, the adapted student version of the Oldenburg Burnout Inventory to measure burnout, and the Psychosocial Inventory of Ego Strength - Short Form to assess psychosocial development. Pearson's correlation was used to examine the relationship between burnout and psychosocial development, and a one-way analysis of variance was used to compare differences across academic phases. A significance level of P < 0.05 with a 95% confidence interval was applied.

The study included 315 students with a mean age of 20.33 years; 52.1% were in phase one. Female students (M = 43.50) reported significantly higher burnout levels than males (M = 40.58) (P < 0.001). No significant differences in burnout were found across phases. Male students scored higher in psychosocial development (M = 109.38) than females (M = 104.86) (P = 0.011). Psychosocial development was highest in phase three students (M = 110.14) compared to phase one (M = 104.91) and phase two (M = 108.97) (P = 0.036).

Psychosocial development is inversely related to burnout among medical students. Female students showed higher burnout, whereas male students and phase three students demonstrated higher psychosocial development. These findings highlight the importance of integrating emotional intelligence and psychosocial development training into medical curricula to support student well-being and reduce burnout risk.