ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Psychiatry
Sec. Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Rehabilitation
This article is part of the Research TopicMental health related stigma and mental health status in adolescent and youth in various cultural contextsView all 4 articles
The Impact of Professional Growth Mindset on Depression Among Medical Students: The Chain Mediating Role of Career Interest and Career Adaptability
Provisionally accepted
- 1Southern Medical University School of Public Health, Guangzhou, China
- 2Department of Radiology, the First Affiliated Hospital of Shenzhen University, Health Science Center, Shenzhen Second People’s Hospital, Shenzhen, China
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Objective: To investigate the impact of professional growth mindset on depression among medical students through the chain mediating role of career interest and career adaptability. Methods: A cross-sectional survey was conducted in September 2023 among 2,988 freshman medical students from a medical university, using the Professional Growth Mindset Questionnaire, Career Interest Questionnaire, Career Adaptability Scale, and the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9). Descriptive analysis, normality tests, correlation analysis, and structural equation modeling were performed using SPSS 25.0 and Mplus 8.0. Results: Professional growth mindset, career interest, and career adaptability were all significantly negatively correlated with depression. There were significant positive correlations among professional growth mindset, career interest, and career adaptability. The mediating effects of career interest and career adaptability, as well as their chain mediating effect, between professional growth mindset and depression were all significant. Conclusion: Career interest and career adaptability play a chain mediating role between professional growth mindset and depression. Cultivating a professional growth mindset, stimulating career interest, and enhancing career adaptability can help reduce the occurrence of depression.
Keywords: Professional Growth Mindset, career interest, Career adaptability, Depression, Medical students
Received: 13 Oct 2025; Accepted: 24 Nov 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Cai and Zhang. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Han-wen Zhang, zhwstarcraft@outlook.com
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