Investigating the Relationship between the Meaning in Life and the Mental Health Status of Medical Sciences Students

Studies have shown that the mental health status of medical students is more at risk compared to the general population. There are several factors associated with mental health status. One of the related factors seems to be the meaning of life. Therefore, this study was conducted to investigate the relationship between meaning of life and mental health status in students of Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences.

This study is descriptive-analytical and was performed in Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences with a sample size of 343. Samples were collected by simple accessible sampling method. Data collection tools included standard questionnaire of meaning of life and short form of mental health questionnaire. Data were analyzed using SPSS software version 26. Descriptive and analytical statistics were also used for analysis. In the present study, all ethical considerations were observed and the authors reported no conflict of interest.

343 students participated in this study, out of whom 147 were male and 195 were female. According to the findings, the items of presence of meaning and search for meaning in life have a significant inverse relationship with anxiety, stress, depression and the total score of mental health status (P<0.01).

Considering the importance of the meaning of life in the mental health status of students, more importance should be given to psychotherapy systems based on the concept of meaning.