ArticleBMC psychiatry2026
Symptoms of depression, suicidal ideation, and personality traits in a sample of medical students: a cross-sectional study.
Article in BMC psychiatry, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
0 citing papers in PubMed.
No citing paper in PubMed yet.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
8 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundMedical education is associated with substantial psychological demands, and accumulating evidence indicates a high prevalence of depressive symptoms and suicidal ideation among medical students, in some studies exceeding levels observed in non-medical student populations. However, data from Croatia remain limited, and the role of personality traits as potential vulnerability or protective factors remains insufficiently explored. This study aimed to assess the prevalence of depressive symptoms and suicidal ideation among medical students and to examine their associations with personality traits. We hypothesized that higher levels of depressive symptoms and suicidal ideation would be associated with lower levels of emotional stability, conscientiousness, and extraversion.
methodsThis cross-sectional study was conducted among medical students at the University of Split between 15 October and 15 November 2025. Depressive symptoms were assessed using the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9). Personality traits (extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, emotional stability, and intellect/imagination) were measured using the International Personality Item Pool-50 (IPIP-50).
resultsA total of 278 students were included (72.3% female; median age 22 years, IQR 20-24). At least mild depressive symptoms were reported by 61.2% of participants, while 9% exhibited moderately severe to severe symptoms. Suicidal ideation was reported by 12.2%. Female students reported higher depression scores compared with males (p < 0.001). Students with suicidal ideation showed significantly lower levels of extraversion (p < 0.001), conscientiousness (p < 0.001), and emotional stability (p < 0.001). Depression scores were negatively correlated with emotional stability (ρ = -0.468, p < 0.001), conscientiousness (ρ = -0.28, p < 0.001), agreeableness (ρ = -0.12, p < 0.05), and extraversion (ρ = -0.216, p < 0.001). In multivariable analysis, emotional stability (β = -1.088, p < 0.001), conscientiousness (β = -0.284, p = 0.007), and extraversion (β = -0.164, p = 0.047) emerged as the strongest independent correlates of depressive symptom severity.
conclusionDepressive symptoms and suicidal ideation were highly prevalent among medical students. Depressive symptom severity was negatively associated with several personality traits, particularly emotional stability, conscientiousness, and extraversion, which emerged as the strongest correlates. These findings highlight the relevance of personality traits in understanding depressive symptoms among student population and support the need for further longitudinal research and mental health prevention strategies.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What Socratic holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.