Factors Affecting Anger and Its Effects on Mental Wellbeing Among Undergraduate Medical Students: A Cross-Sectional Study
[1]
Lavinya A/P Vasudevan, Faculty of Medicine, Melaka Manipal Medical College, Manipal Academy of Higher Education (MAHE), Melaka, Malaysia.
[2]
Mayoora Thilakan A/L P. Thayaparan, Faculty of Medicine, Melaka Manipal Medical College, Manipal Academy of Higher Education (MAHE), Melaka, Malaysia.
[3]
Edward Cheng Han Jian, Faculty of Medicine, Melaka Manipal Medical College, Manipal Academy of Higher Education (MAHE), Melaka, Malaysia.
[4]
Erna Noor Fatihah Binti Abd Gapar, Faculty of Medicine, Melaka Manipal Medical College, Manipal Academy of Higher Education (MAHE), Melaka, Malaysia.
[5]
Era Noor Solehah Binti Abd Gapar, Faculty of Medicine, Melaka Manipal Medical College, Manipal Academy of Higher Education (MAHE), Melaka, Malaysia.
One of the most common emotions associated with the younger generation is anger which is also said to be an adaptive mechanism in facing with frustration and threats. It can come wrapped with many physical and mental consequences if not managed properly. The objective is to study the factors affecting anger and the effects of anger on the mental wellbeing of undergraduate medical students in Melaka-Manipal Medical College. A pre-validated questionnaire based analytical cross sectional design was used in conducting this study. The questionnaires were distributed in printed and digital format to students of MBBS programme from Batch 34, 35, 36 and 37. A total number of 223 participants responded to the survey. There were no significant association between age (P-value = 0.304), gender (P-value = 0.197), ethnicity (P-value = 0.119), academic year (P-value = 0.472), relationship status (P- value = 0.658), religion (P-value = 0.336), financial aid (P-value = 0.171), mental exercise (P- value = 0.280) including alcohol and substance use (P-value = 0.795) with anger as the P-value for each factor was more than 0.05. The main source of anger for participants was ‘self’ (36.8%) and most claimed an episode of anger lasts a minute or an hour (66%). Most participants also claimed anger rarely affects their academic performance (52%) and relationships (61%). Besides that, most were found to rarely express their anger (44.5%), often suppress their anger (34%) and rarely have anger outbursts (72.2%). The mean mental wellbeing score was 46.1 ± 8.5 with range of 14.0 to 100.0. There was also negative and weak association between anger and mental wellbeing (r = -0.2, P-value = 0.002) with P-value that was less than 0.05 signifying that the weak association is significant. In conclusion, there were no association between age, gender, ethnicity, academic year, relationship status, religion, financial aid, mental exercise including alcohol and substance use with anger. A majority was found to have self as the primary cause of anger, anger episodes last a minute or an hour and anger rarely affects studies and relationships. Most often suppress their anger and rarely express anger and have outbursts. There was weak association between anger and mental wellbeing.
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