An insight into hardiness status of medical undergraduates

Abstract

Background: The construct of hardiness was first introduced by Kobasa and Maddi, who defined it as a resistance resource in encounter with stressful situations. Hardiness is related to three mutually related dispositions-commitment, control, and challenge. Aims and objectives: To explore hardiness status in medical undergraduates and to study the relationship between hardiness and psychological distress. Material and Methods: A cross-sectional study was carried out among medical students of a private medical college in Maharashtra. A validated Hardiness Questionnaire of Kobasa was administered. Scores on control, commitment and challenge were calculated and then summed up to calculate total hardiness score. Psychological distress was measured by SRQ tool, as designed by Mari J.and Williams. Results: The study population comprised of 331 students out of which 39 medical undergraduates had hardiness score less than zero indicating that 12% of study subjects were non-hardy. Significant negative association was observed between hardiness level and psychological distress. Conclusion: It was observed that 12%medical undergraduates were non-hardy. From the analysis of the data, it has been found that there is a fair negative association in hardiness and psychological distress.