Liu Nana, Zhuang Xinyan, Cao Yanjun, Hu Huihui, Xu Haibo
School of Nursing, Xuzhou Medical University, Xuzhou, 221004, China.
Department of Neurology, The Second Hospital, Cheeloo College of Medicine, Shandong University, Jinan, 250012, China.
BMC Med Educ. 2025 May 31;25(1):811. doi: 10.1186/s12909-025-07410-5.
Prosocial behavior is an essential quality for medical students and reflects the development of future professional values. This study aims to investigate the roles of perceived social support and psychological capital in the prosocial behaviors of medical students while also testing the moderating effect of negative life events.
A cross-sectional survey was conducted from July to October 2023 among 1940 medical students in Jiangsu Province, using a questionnaire composed of the Prosocial Tendencies Measurement Scale, the Perceived Social Support Scale, the Psychological Capital Questionnaire, and the Adolescent Life Events Scale. SPSS 25.0 was used for the preliminary analysis, and M-plus 8.3 was used to examine the moderated mediation effect.
Perceived social support (β = 0.248, 95% CI [0.178, 0.321]) and psychological capital (β = 0.414, 95% CI [0.334, 0.495]) positively predicted medical students' prosocial behavior. Perceived social support positively predicted psychological capital (β = 0.458, 95% CI [0.401, 0.518]). Psychological capital mediated their relationship. The first half of the mediating pathway of "perceived social support → psychological capital → prosocial behavior" was moderated by negative life events. Specifically, due to the negative moderating effect of negative life events, the indirect impact of psychological capital on the relationship between perceived social support and prosocial behavior increased from 33.5% to 50.6%.
Perceived social support directly predicts medical students' prosocial behavior and may do so indirectly via psychological capital. It's a stronger positive predictor of psychological capital in medical students with lower negative life events. Findings help develop targeted mental health courses and interventions for medical students' prosocial behaviors.
亲社会行为是医学生的一项基本素质，反映了未来职业价值观的发展。本研究旨在探讨感知社会支持和心理资本在医学生亲社会行为中的作用，同时检验负性生活事件的调节作用。
2023年7月至10月对江苏省1940名医学生进行了横断面调查，使用由亲社会倾向测量量表、感知社会支持量表、心理资本问卷和青少年生活事件量表组成的问卷。使用SPSS 25.0进行初步分析，使用M-plus 8.3检验调节中介效应。
感知社会支持（β = 0.248，95%CI [0.178，0.321]）和心理资本（β = 0.414，95%CI [0.334，0.495]）正向预测医学生的亲社会行为。感知社会支持正向预测心理资本（β = 0.458，95%CI [0.401，0.518]）。心理资本在它们的关系中起中介作用。“感知社会支持→心理资本→亲社会行为”中介路径的前半部分受到负性生活事件的调节。具体而言，由于负性生活事件的负向调节作用，心理资本对感知社会支持与亲社会行为关系的间接影响从33.5%增加到50.6%。
感知社会支持直接预测医学生的亲社会行为，也可能通过心理资本间接预测。在负性生活事件较少的医学生中，它是心理资本更强的正向预测因子。研究结果有助于为医学生的亲社会行为开发有针对性的心理健康课程和干预措施。
