Impact of grit, resilience, and stress levels on burnout and well-being of dental students

Objective Dentistry is demanding and requires a high level of diligence and resilience, resulting in high stress that may impact students' burnout and well-being. The aims were to: (1) investigate the levels of grit, resilience, stress, burnout, and well-being among students at King Abdulaziz University-Faculty of Dentistry; (2) explore age, gender, dentistry as the first career choice, academic level, grit, resilience, and stress as predictors for burnout and well-being among dental students; (3) investigate the correlations among grit, resilience, stress, burnout, and well-being among dental students. Methods An electronic questionnaire was distributed, comprised of demographic information and five validated scales: (1) grit (grit-8-item); (2) resilience (The Connor-Davidson resilience scale (CD-RISC)); (3) stress (perceived stress scale); (4) burnout (Oldenburg Burnout Inventory); (5) well-being (World Health Organization-5). The total students number was (n = 1057), number of participants were (n = 355), and the response rate was (33%). Predictors of well-being and burnout (multiple linear regression analyses) and correlations among the scales (Spearman Correlation Coefficient) were performed. Results Median age (22 years old). Trait levels varied among students. Grit, stress, and academic year were significant predictors for burnout (p < 0.0001), where sixth-year undergraduates showed significantly high, third-year undergraduate and graduates showed significantly low burnout levels. Age, gender, stress, and academic year were significant predictors for well-being (p < 0.0001), where older students and fifth-year undergraduates showed significantly low, and males showed significantly high well-being levels. Burnout had a significant moderate positive relationship with stress and a weak negative relationship with resilience and grit. Well-being had a significant negative moderate relationship with burnout and stress and a weak positive relationship with resilience. Conclusion The levels of grit, resilience, stress, burnout, and well-being, and correlations varied among dental students. The academic level was a common significant predictor between burnout and well-being. We recommend reinforcing existing programs at the school and implementing a resilience program to reduce burnout levels and improve students' well-being.