Academic Stress as a Predictor of Research Self-Efficacy Mediated by Research Spirit in Medical Students

Aims: Research capacity building and self-efficacy are essential skills for medical students that greatly help them to participate in research. The present study aimed to investigate the relationship between academic stress and research self-efficacy in medical students through the mediating role of research spirit. Materials Methods: This descriptive-correlational study used path analysis to examine the relationships between the variables. The statistical population was all postgraduate medical students in Ilam in the academic year 2022-2023, of whom 301 students were selected using convenience sampling. They completed the Research Self-Efficacy Scale, the Academic Stress Scale, and the Research Spirit Questionnaire. Evaluation of the proposed model was done using path analysis. Findings: There was a negative correlation between academic stress and research spirit (p 0.001). There was a significant positive correlation between research spirit and research self-efficacy (p 0.001), whereas there was no significant correlation between the direct path of academic stress to research self-efficacy. Also, there was a significant correlation between the indirect path connecting academic stress and research self-efficacy through research spirit (p 0.01). Conclusion: Based on the results, the proposed model shows a good fit and is a major step toward identifying factors influencing research self-efficacy among medical students.