Educational environment and psychological distress of medical students: The role of a deep learning approach

ObjectivesStudies concur that an optimal learning environment is a vital aspect for effective learning and for enhancing students' well-being. Conversely, medical training is reported to be a suboptimal environment, thereby compromising students' learning and well-being. This study aimed to explore the interrelations of the learning environment, learning approaches and psychological distress among medical students.Materials and MethodsA cross-sectional study was conducted on 656 medical students. The Dundee Ready Educational Environment Measurement, Learning Approaches inventory and 21-item Depression Anxiety Stress Scale were administered to measure the educational environment, learning approaches and psychological distress, respectively. Structural equation modelling was performed by Analysis of Moment Structure software.ResultsThe results showed that the proposed structural model had good model fit (Goodness of Fit Index (GFI) = 0.920, Root Mean Square of Error Approximation (RMSEA) = 0.048, Tucker–Lewis Index (TLI) = 0.953, Comparative Fit Index (CFI) = 0.960, Normed Fit Index (NFI) = 0.924, Chi2/df = 2.020). The effect of deep learning on psychological distress was fully moderated by the educational environment, while the effects of other learning strategies on psychological distress were not supported in our analysis.ConclusionsA positive educational environment has direct and positive influences on the psychological health of medical students. Strategic and deep learning approaches have positive influences on the perceived educational environment, but only the deep learning approach has indirect positive effects on psychological health. Improving the educational environment and promoting deep learning approaches for medical students will improve their psychological health during medical training.