Burnout and psychological distress across U.S. postgraduate trainees, fellows, and students: A comprehensive meta-analysis.
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| Title: | Burnout and psychological distress across U.S. postgraduate trainees, fellows, and students: A comprehensive meta-analysis. |
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| Authors: | Jahanaray, Mohammad (AUTHOR), Pasha, Atena (AUTHOR), Jahanaray, Ali (AUTHOR) |
| Source: | Journal of American College Health. Jul2026, Vol. 74 Issue 6, p1772-1785. 14p. |
| Subjects: | Effect sizes (Statistics), Psychological distress, Psychological burnout, Graduate students, Meta-analysis, Descriptive statistics, Hospital medical staff, Systematic reviews, MEDLINE, Depersonalization, School discipline, Intraclass correlation, Psychology of medical students, Online information services, Data analysis software, Confidence intervals, Psychosocial factors, COVID-19 pandemic, Psychology information storage & retrieval systems |
| Geographic Terms: | United States |
| Abstract: | Objective: This meta-analysis explored the relationship between burnout and psychological distress across different academic disciplines, measurement tools, institutional contexts, and the pandemic. Method: We synthesized 76 effect sizes from 29 studies involving 20,037 students, residents, and fellows in the United States. Results: The correlation between burnout and psychological distress was (r = 0.44), with stress showing the strongest correlation (r = 0.48). Notably, the correlations were higher during the pandemic (r = 0.46) compared to pre-pandemic (r = 0.44). Our subgroup analysis indicated that medical students exhibited a stronger association (r = 0.5) than fellows and residents. Additionally, samples from a multiple organization yielded higher correlations (r = 0.46). Conclusions: Among the dimensions of burnout, emotional exhaustion demonstrated a stronger correlation with psychological distress. Meta-regression confirmed that the students' disciplines, sample locations, and COVID-19 moderated the overall effect size. Findings highlight the urgent need for targeted interventions to address environmental stressors within medical training. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
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| Database: | Psychology and Behavioral Sciences Collection |
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| Abstract: | Objective: This meta-analysis explored the relationship between burnout and psychological distress across different academic disciplines, measurement tools, institutional contexts, and the pandemic. Method: We synthesized 76 effect sizes from 29 studies involving 20,037 students, residents, and fellows in the United States. Results: The correlation between burnout and psychological distress was (r = 0.44), with stress showing the strongest correlation (r = 0.48). Notably, the correlations were higher during the pandemic (r = 0.46) compared to pre-pandemic (r = 0.44). Our subgroup analysis indicated that medical students exhibited a stronger association (r = 0.5) than fellows and residents. Additionally, samples from a multiple organization yielded higher correlations (r = 0.46). Conclusions: Among the dimensions of burnout, emotional exhaustion demonstrated a stronger correlation with psychological distress. Meta-regression confirmed that the students' disciplines, sample locations, and COVID-19 moderated the overall effect size. Findings highlight the urgent need for targeted interventions to address environmental stressors within medical training. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
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| ISSN: | 07448481 |
| DOI: | 10.1080/07448481.2025.2611276 |
