Forgiveness of Self and Situations and Rumination as Mental Health Correlates in Dental School Students

ABSTRACT Introduction It is widely acknowledged that dental training is stressful, with students being vulnerable to burnout, anxiety, and depression. Objective This study examined the associations between psychosocial risk factors (maladaptive perfectionism and rumination) and resilience factors (forgiveness of self, others, and situations, and compassion for self and others) with burnout, depression, and anxiety. Method In 2023, an electronic questionnaire was distributed to all dental students at a US dental school. Validated self‐report measures were used to assess three domains: (a) mental health outcomes (burnout, depression, and anxiety), (b) risk factors (perfectionism and rumination), and (c) protective factors (compassion; self‐compassion; and forgiveness of self, others, and situations). Socio‐demographic measures were also collected. Seventy dental students participated, representing a 12% response rate, approximately evenly distributed across all four training years. Results Bivariate analyses showed that perfectionistic discrepancies and rumination were associated with greater burnout, depression, and anxiety. Self‐forgiveness and forgiveness of situations were associated with lower burnout, depression, and anxiety. In the final step of multiple regression models, where all variables were entered into the equation, self‐forgiveness emerged as a significant predictor of lower burnout and depression. Forgiveness of situations significantly predicted lower anxiety, while rumination remained as a predictor of higher anxiety. Conclusions These findings represent an initial examination of risk and resilience factors considered jointly in relation to burnout, depression, and anxiety. Notably, the study highlights the potential of relatively under‐researched constructs—forgiveness of self, others, and situations—in shaping mental health outcomes among dental students during training.