Periodicidad semestral: flujo continuo.
ISSN - Electrónico: 2661-6947 / DOI: 10.36015 • LILACS BIREME (19784); LATINDEX (20666)
Introduction: The impostor syndrome is a disorder characterized by the individual's inability to recognize their abilities and internalize their achievements, which has a negative impact on mental health and academic-work performance. Objective: To identify the prevalence of impostor syndrome and the level of self-esteem in medical students of the Pontificia Universidad Católica del Ecuador. Materials and methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted on medical students from second to tenth level during the period 2022-01. During statistical analysis, descriptive statistics, cross tables, prevalence ratio (PR) and the chi-square test (X2) were applied for hypothesis testing. Results: The majority of students with impostor syndrome were women (74.2%). In fact, being female increases twice the probability (PR: 2.12; CI 95% 1.66-2.17; p: < 0.001) of suffering impostor syndrome. For male population, perceiving oneself as a perfectionist doubles the probability (PR: 2.3; CI 95% 1.53-3.46; p: < 0.001) of impostor syndrome. Low self-esteem is not associated with a greater probability of developing this syndrome. In contrast, not receiving social support doubles its likelihood (PR: 1.72; CI 95% 1.16-2.55; p 0.007) Discussion: Previous studies such as those carried out by Vilchez-Cornejo et al. (2021), Sonnak and Towell (2001), and Henning et al., (1998) have shown a high prevalence of this syndrome in medical students, with a predominance in women. Consistent with Vilchez-Cornejo’s research, there was no association between career level and imposter syndrome. According to Wang, et, al. (2019), perfectionism is associated with a higher probability of impostor syndrome. Conclusion: The impostor syndrome is common in medical students and there are determining factors that increase the probability of developing the syndrome such as being a woman, perceiving oneself as a perfectionist in the male population and not perceiving social support. The importance of its acknowledgement resides in the prevention of psychological distress and academic desertion.
Organización Mundial de la Salud. Invertir en Salud Mental. Ginebra: Departamento de Salud Mental y Abuso
de Sustancias 2004. ISBN 9243562576. Disponible en:
https://apps.who.int/iris/handle/10665/42897
Cader FA, Gupta A, Han JK, et al. How Feeling Like an Imposter Can Impede Your Success. JACC Case Rep
;3(2):347–349; Available from:
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34317533/
Bravata DM, Watts SA, Keefer AL, et al. Prevalence, Predictors, and Treatment of Impostor Syndrome: a Systematic Review. J Gen Intern Med 2020; 35(4):1252-1275;
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31848865/
Mak KKL, Kleitman S, Abbott MJ. Impostor phenomenon measurement scales: A systematic review. Front
Psychol 2019; 10(APR):671; Available from:
https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2019.00671/fu
Freeman KJ, Houghton S, Carr SE, et al. Measuring impstor phenomenon in healthcare simulation educators:
a validation of the clance impostor phenomenon scale and leary impostorism scale. BMC Med Educ 2022; 22(1);
Available from:
https://bmcmededuc.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12909-022-03190-4
Villwock JA, Sobin LB, Koester LA, et al. Impostor syndrome and burnout among American medical students: a
pilot study. Int J Med Educ Oct 2016;7:364-369; Available from:
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27802178/
Vilchez-Cornejo J, Romani L, Chávez-Bustamante SG, et al. Síndrome del impostor y sus factores asociados
en estudiantes de Medicina de seis facultades peruanas. Rev Colomb Psiquiatr 2021; Disponible en:
Cogollo Z, Campo-Arias A, Herazo E. Escala de rosenberg para autoestima: consistencia interna y dimensionalidad en estudiantes de cartagena, Colombia. Psychologia Avances de la disciplina 2015;9(2):61–71. Disponible en:
https://www.redalyc.org/articulo.oa?id=297241658005
Pérez Villalobos H. Autoestima, teorías y su relación con el éxito personal. Alternativas en psicología
;41:22–32. Disponible en:
Schubert N, Bowker A. Examining the Impostor Phenomenon in Relation to Self-Esteem Level and Self-Esteem Instability. Current Psychology 2019; 38(3):749–755; Available from:
Self-Esteem_Instability
Wang KT, Sheveleva MS, Permyakova TM. Imposter syndrome among Russian students: The link between perfectionism and psychological distress. Pers Individ Dif 2019;143:1–6; Available from:
https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2019-14667-003
Pervez A, Brady LL, Mullane K, et al. An Empirical Investigation of Mental Illness, Impostor Syndrome, and
Social Support in Management Doctoral Programs:
https://doi.org/101177/1052562920953195 2020;45(1):126–158; Available from: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/1052562920953195
Zanini DS, Peixoto EM. Social Support Scale (MOS-SSS): Analysis of the Psychometric Properties
via Item Response Theory. Paidéia (Ribeirão Preto) 2016;26(65): 359–368; Available from:
https://www.revistas.usp.br/paideia/article/view/120866
Vergauwe J, Wille B, Feys M, et al. Fear of Being Exposed: The Trait-Relatedness of the Impostor Phenomenon
and its Relevance in the Work Context. Journal of Business and Psychology 2014 30:3 2014;30(3):565–581;
Available from:
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10869-014-9382-5
Levant B, Villwock JA, Manzardo AM. Impostorism in third-year medical students: an item analysis using the
Clance impostor phenomenon scale. Perspect Med Educ 2020;9(2):83; Available from:
Arleo EK, Wagner-Schulman M, McGinty G, et al. Tackling impostor syndrome: A multidisciplinary approach.
Clin Imaging 2021; 74:170–172; Available from:
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33478806/
Bagby-Stone S. Creating Space for Well-Being in Medical School and Beyond. Mo Med 2021;118 (1):50-54. Available from:
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33551486/
Mak KKL, Kleitman S, Abbott MJ. Impostor Phenomenon Measurement Scales: A Systematic Review. Front
Psychol 2019; 10(APR): 671; Available from:
https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2019.00671/full
Chandra S, Huebert CA, Crowley E, et al. Impostor Syndrome: Could It Be Holding You or Your Mentees Back?
Chest 2019; Jul. 156 (1): 26–32; Available from:
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30872019/
Henning K, Ey S, Shaw D. Perfectionism, the impostor phenomenon and psychological adjustment in medical,
dental, nursing and pharmacy students. Med Educ 1998;32(5):456–464; Available from:
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/10211285/
Sonnak C, Towell T. The impostor phenomenon in British university students: Relationships between self-esteem, mental health, parental rearing style and socioeconomic status. Pers Individ Dif 2001;31(6):863–874; Available from:
https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2001-11536-003
Feenstra S, Begeny CT, Ryan MK, et al. Contextualizing the Impostor “Syndrome.” Front Psychol 2020;11; Available from:
https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.575024/full
Aparta KH, Menon P. Impostor Syndrome: An Integrative Framework of Its Antecedents, Consequences and Moderating Factors on Sustainable Leader Behaviors. European Journal of Training and Development 2020; 46 (9): Available from:
https://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/mcb/ejtd/2020/00000046/00000009/art00005
Gardner RG, Bednar JS, Stewart BW, et al. “I must have slipped through the cracks somehow”: An examination of coping with perceived impostorism and the role of social support. J Vocat Behav 2019;115; 1-17: Available from:
https://digitalscholarship.unlv.edu/met_fac_articles/102/
Pan W, Liu C, Yang Q, et al. The neural basis of trait self-esteem revealed by the amplitude of low-frequency
fluctuations and resting state functional connectivity. Soc Cogn Affect Neurosci 2016; 11(3):367-376; Available from:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4769622/
Ecuador. Consejo de Educación Superior. Reglamento de Régimen Superior: Capítulo I Ámbito, Objeto, Objetivos, Funciones Sustantivas y Enfoque de Derechos. 2022. RPC-SE-08-No. 023-2022. Available from:
The authors who publish in this journal accept the following conditions:
1. The authors retain the copyright and grant to the CAMbios MEDICAL-SCIENTIFIC JOURNAL HECAM the right of the first publication, with the work registered with the Creative Commons attribution license, which allows third parties to use the published material provided that they mention the authorship of the work and the first publication in this journal.
2. Authors can make other independent and additional contractual agreements for the non-exclusive distribution of the version of the article published in this journal (for example, include it in an institutional repository or publish it in a book) as long as it clearly indicates that the work was published. for the first time in the CAMbios MEDICAL-SCIENTIFIC JOURNAL HECAM.
