DOI: https://doi.org/10.14710/dmj.v15i5.53413

CORRELATION BETWEEN STRESS AND ANXIETY AND ACADEMIC BURNOUT AMONG FIRST-YEAR MEDICAL STUDENTS AT DIPONEGORO UNIVERSITY

*Salsabila Dewi Febrianti  -  Undergraduate Program, Faculty of Medicine, Universitas Diponegoro, Semarang, Indonesia, Indonesia
Hang Gunawan  -  Departement of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, Universitas Diponegoro, Semarang, Indonesia, Indonesia
Widodo Sarjana  -  Departement of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, Universitas Diponegoro, Semarang, Indonesia, Indonesia
Innawati Jusup  -  Departement of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, Universitas Diponegoro, Semarang, Indonesia, Indonesia
Open Access Copyright 2026 Salsabila Dewi Febrianti, Hang Gunawan, Widodo Sarjana, Innawati Jusup
Creative Commons License This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

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Abstract

Background: Entering university is a critical transition for first-year students, marked by numerous academic, social, and personal adjustments. Navigating these changes requires substantial mental resilience. Failure to adapt may lead to psychological strain, particularly stress and anxiety, which can escalate into academic burnout. Medical students are at higher risk than other undergraduates. Objective: To analyze the relationship between stress, anxiety, and academic burnout among first-year medical students. Methods: This analytical cross-sectional study involved 81 first-year medical students from the Faculty of Medicine, Diponegoro University. Participants were recruited through purposive sampling. Stress levels were assessed using the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS), anxiety was measured with the Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI), and academic burnout was evaluated using the Maslach Burnout Inventory–Student Survey (MBI-SS). Descriptive statistics were applied to present frequency distributions, while correlations were examined using Spearman’s rank and Lambda tests. Results: Most participants experienced moderate stress (55.6%), mild anxiety (60.5%), and moderate academic burnout (48.1%). Stress was very strongly correlated with academic burnout (r = 0.799, p < 0.001), while anxiety showed a strong correlation (r = 0.597, p < 0.001). Conclusion: Stress and anxiety were both significantly associated with academic burnout in first-year medical students. Stress exhibited a very strong positive relationship, whereas anxiety demonstrated a strong positive association. These findings highlight the importance of early intervention strategies to reduce stress and anxiety, while also underscoring the need for stress management and mental health support programs tailored to early-year medical students to mitigate burnout risk.

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Subject Stress; Anxiety; Academic Burnout; First-year Students; Medical Student; Faculty of Medicine
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Keywords: Stress; Anxiety; Academic Burnout; First-year Students; Medical Student; Faculty of Medicine

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Language : EN
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