Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 Department of Psychology, Isfahan (Khorasgan) Branch,

2 Department of Foreign Languages, Islamic Azad University Isfahan, (Khorasgan) Branch, Isfahan, Iran

Abstract

Background: The issue of students’ academic failure is one of the most important educational,
economic, and social issues. Cognizance of the factors related to academic downfall is so efficient
in its prevention and control and leads to protecting governmental assets and labor force. In
order to achieve this goal, this study intends to determine the predictive factors of the students’
academic performance in Isfahan University of Medical Sciences in terms of their personality profile,
mental health, and their demographic characteristics. Materials and Methods: This study was a
descriptive‑correlation study on 771 students who entered Isfahan University of Medical Sciences
between 2005 and 2007. The information was gathered through using the students’ educational and
clinical files (for measuring personality characteristics and mental health) and SAMA Software (To
get the mean scores). Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory short form and General Health
Questionnaire were used for collecting clinical data. The data were analyzed using SPSS 15(stepwise
regression coefficient, variance analysis, Student’s t‑test, and Spearman correlation coefficient).
Result: The results showed that the aforementioned students obtained a normal average for their
personality profile and mental health indicators. Of all the reviewed variables, education, age, gender,
depression, and hypochondria were the predictive factors of the students’ educational performance.
Conclusion: It could be concluded that some of the personality features, mental health indicators,
and personality profile play such a significant role in the students’ educational life that the disorder
in any of them affects the students’ educational performance and academic failure.

Keywords

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