The impact of perfectionist personality on the mental health of medical graduate freshmen

Objective : To investigate the mental health status of medical graduate freshmen and explore the impact of perfectionistic personality traits on mental health, providing scientific basis for improving the mental health and promoting the all-round development of students’ moral, intellectual, physical, artistic and labor. Methods : A cross-sectional survey was conducted among 549 newly admitted clinical medicine graduate students at a medical university in Anhui Province using the Symptom Checklist-90 (SCL-90) and the Frost Multidimensional Perfectionism Scale. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, correlation analysis, and multiple linear regression. Results : The average SCL-90 score was 1.49±0.41, significantly higher than the national norm ( P <0.05). Dimensions such as anxiety, depression, phobia, and psychosis scored higher than the norm, while interpersonal relationships and hostility scored lower ( P <0.05). Perfectionism dimensions, including concern over mistakes, parental expectations, personal standards, and doubts about actions, were positively correlated with SCL-90 scores ( P <0.05). Multiple regression analysis indicated that being female, living in rural areas, and having perfectionist traits such as concern over mistakes and doubts about actions were significant predictors of higher SCL-90 scores ( P <0.05). Conclusion : Medical graduate freshmen have certain psychological health problems, and students with gender as females, family residence in rural areas, and perfectionist personality traits such as concern over mistakes and doubts about actions should be the focus of psychological health intervention.