The relationship between perceived stress and problem solving skills in medical school students

AIM: The aim of this study is to examine the effect of perceived stress on problem solving skills in medical school students. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This research was carried out between 27.02.2023 and 15.03.2023. It is a cross-sectional, descriptive survey study conducted with those who accepted to work among medical faculty students at Ondokuz Mayıs University Faculty of Medicine. 339 people participated in this research. An introductory information form including the socio-demographic characteristics of the participants, the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS) and the Problem Solving Inventory (PSI) were applied. All statistical analyzes were performed using IBM SPSS version 24.0 and statistical significance was accepted as p<0.05. RESULTS: 339 students, 198 of whom were women (58.4%), participated in the study. It was observed that there was a significant difference according to the gender variable in terms of perceived stress scores (p≤0,05). When the arithmetic mean scores were examined, it was found that women's perceived stress levels were higher than men. On the other hand, it was determined that there was a significant difference in the hasty, thinking, avoidant, evaluative and planned sub-dimensions of the scale, and the total score of problem solving skills and perceived stress scores (p≤,05). The relationship between participants' problem solving skills and perceived stress levels was tested with Pearson correlation analysis. As a result of the analysis, it was seen that there was no significant relationship between the scores (p>0.05). CONCLUSIONS: In the study, no significant relationship was found between perceived stress and problem solving skills in medical faculty students. However, many factors affect perceived stress and problem solving skills. It is necessary to carry out studies to reduce the stress levels of the students of the Faculty of Medicine and to improve their problem-solving skills.