Mental Health and Psychological Well-Being Among Medical Aspirants: Gender and Coaching Status Differences

Abstract

Adolescents who are preparing for medical entrance exams at coaching institutes have been affected by increasing competitiveness and therefore raise issues in regard to their psychological well-being and their mental health. This study investigated the effects of gender and coaching status on medical aspirants in Rajasthan regarding their mental health and psychological well-being. A purposive sample of 300 NEET students (150 who were non-repeaters and 150 who were repeaters) who ranged in age from 16 to 22 years old was chosen. A 2×2 factorial research design was utilized where gender and coaching status were independent variables and mental health and psychological wellbeing were dependent variables. The study utilized the Mental Health Scale (Bhatia & Sharma, 2001) and the Well-Being Index (Chauhan & Sharma, 2016) for collecting data. The collected data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, independent samples t-tests, and two-way ANOVA. The results indicated that girls were significantly worse off than boys regarding mental health and psychological well-being. Repeaters also fared significantly worse in terms of psychological functioning than non-repeaters, which suggests that the extended period of preparation for the competitive exam has a deleterious effect on the mental health of adolescents. In addition, significant interactions demonstrated that the female repeaters were the most vulnerable group psychologically. The coaching status had a stronger impact on the psychological outcomes than gender, highlighting the accumulated effect of the repeated attempts on the exam. The authors recommend that systematic support for students' mental health, early interventions for psychological needs, and the development of resilience be established within coaching institutes to enhance the overall well-being of aspiring medical students.