Medical Students' Use of Different Coping Strategies and Relationship With Academic Performance in Preclinical and Clinical Years

Abstract

Students varied widely in use of coping mechanisms. Over time, students shifted to using emotional strategies more frequently while decreasing their use of active strategies. Coping strategies were unrelated to preclinical academic performance (R² = .09, adjusted R² = .04, ns) but were related to clinical performance (R² = .23, adjusted R² = .18, p < .0001), with active coping associated with higher performance and emotional methods associated with lower performance. Insights: Students decreased use of active coping strategies and increased use of emotional coping strategies over time, but emotional strategies were associated with poorer clinical academic performance. These shifts in coping methods may be detrimental to student performance and learning. Improving students' ability to cope should be an educational priority.