Latar Belakang: Mahasiswa tahun pertama cenderung memiliki tingkat stres yang lebih tinggi karena adanya kebutuhan untuk beradaptasi ke dalam lingkungan baru. Untuk mengatasi stres yang dapat terjadi, dibutuhkan mekanisme koping yang sehat. Teori dan penelitian sebelumnya menyiratkan adanya hubungan antara kepribadian dengan mekanisme koping, namun masih sedikit penelitian mengenai kepribadian dan mekanisme koping pada mahasiswa kedokteran dan belum ada penelitian yang terfokus pada mahasiswa tahun pertama di Indonesia.Tujuan: Penelitian ini dilaksanakan untuk mengetahui hubungan antara kepribadian dan mekanisme koping pada mahasiswa kedokteran tahun pertama.
Hasil: Secara umum, kepribadian dan mekanisme koping memiliki korelasi yang rendah. Openness tidak memiliki hubungan yang signifikan dengan klasifikasi koping manapun. Conscientiousness memiliki korelasi positif moderat dengan koping adaptive (r = 0,412, p < 0,001), korelasi positif rendah dengan koping problem-focused (r = 0,382, p < 0,001) dan emotion-focused (r = 0,354, p < 0,001), serta korelasi negatif rendah dengan koping maladaptive (r = -0,247, p = 0,001). Extraversion memiliki korelasi positif rendah dengan koping adaptive (r = 0,280, p < 0,001), problem-focused (rs = 0,279, p < 0,001) dan emotion-focused (rs = 0,218, p = 0,004). Agreeableness juga memiliki korelasi positif rendah dengan koping adaptive (r = 0,399, p < 0,001), problem-focused (rs = 0,300, p < 0,001) dan emotion-focused (rs = 0,349, p < 0,001). Neuroticism memiliki korelasi positif moderat dengan koping maladaptive (r = 0,475, p < 0,001).Kesimpulan: Korelasi rendah antara kepribadian dan mekanisme koping yang ditemukan pada penelitian ini sesuai dengan teori dan hasil penelitian sebelumnya. Oleh karena itu, diketahuinya kepribadian dan mekanisme koping mahasiswa tahun pertama dapat menjadi landasan untuk membuat support system yang sesuai.

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Background: First year university students are more likely to experience higher level of stress due to their need to adapt to a new environment. Healthy coping mechanisms are needed to overcome that possibility of stress. Theory and previous researches found that there is a correlation between personality and coping mechanism. Currently studies about personality and coping mechanism of medical students are still limited. Moreover, there hasn’t been any study yet about personality and coping mechanism of first year medical students in Indonesia.

Aim: This study is conducted to assess the relationship between personality and coping mechanism of first year medical students.

Methods: This is a cross-sectional study with 173 first year medical students of FMUI as respondents chosen by total sampling. Personality is measured with Big Five Inventory which consists of five subscales; openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness and neuroticism. Coping mechanism is measured with Brief COPE instrument which consists of 14 subscales that can be classified into adaptive coping (includes problem-focused coping and emotion-focused coping), and maladaptive/dysfunctional coping. The significant p value for this study is p < 0,05.

Results: Generally, personality and coping mechanism has a low correlation. Openness is not related to any coping mechanism classification. Conscientiousness has moderate positive correlation with adaptive coping (r = 0,412, p < 0,001), low positive correlation with problem-focused coping (r = 0,382, p < 0,001) and emotion-focused coping (r = 0,354, p < 0,001), and low negative correlation with maladaptive coping (r = -0,247, p = 0,001). Extraversion has low positive correlation with adaptive coping (r = 0,280, p < 0,001), problem-focused coping (rs = 0,279, p < 0,001) and emotion-focused coping (rs = 0,218, p = 0,004). Agreeableness also has low positive correlation with adaptive coping (r = 0,399, p < 0,001), problem-focused coping (rs = 0,300, p < 0,001) and emotion-focused coping (rs = 0,349, p < 0,001). Neuroticism has moderate positive correlation with maladaptive coping (r = 0,475, p < 0,001).

Conclusion: Low correlation between personality and coping mechanism is in accordance with the theory and previous researches. For that reason, knowledge about personality and coping of first year medical students can be a foundation to create an appropriate support system.