Studies among medical students in Egypt consistently report high levels of stress, burnout, and significant hesitancy to seek mental health support. This study investigated the protective role of self-compassion, an internal psychological resource, against burnout. A cross-sectional study was conducted using an online questionnaire. A total of 649 medical students from a public university in Egypt were recruited via convenience sampling. Participants completed the Self-Compassion Scale–Short Form (SCS-SF), the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS-10), and the Burnout Assessment Tool (BAT-23). Bivariate associations were tested with Pearson correlations; multivariable linear regression assessed predictors of burnout. Indirect effects analysis was performed with bias-corrected bootstrapped confidence intervals (10,000 samples) to estimate indirect effects. A total of 649 medical students participated (mean age of 20.6; 58.4% female). Bivariate analyses revealed significant negative correlations between self-compassion and both perceived stress (r = -0.577) and burnout (r = -0.478), and a positive correlation between stress and burnout (r = 0.603; all p-values < .001). The multivarivable regression model explained 39.9% of burnout variance (R2 = .399); perceived stress was the a significant positive predictor (β = 0.488), while self-compassion remained a significant protective factor (β = -0.196). The indirect effects analysis confirmed a significant indirect effect of self-compassion on burnout via perceived stress (B = -0.026, 95% CI -0.032, -0.021). As the direct effect also remained significant (B = -0.018), a partial indirect effects model was supported, with the indirect pathway accounting for 59.2% of the total effect. Higher self-compassion is associated with lower burnout largely via an association with reduced perceived stress. Training self-compassion alongside stress-reduction strategies may help safeguard medical student well-being.
Omar et al. (Tue,) studied this question.