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We explored this relationship, and the individual or workplace factors moderating it, in a population of newly qualified doctors.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Methods<\/jats:title><jats:p>We examined the experiences of newly qualified doctors in the UK as they started a novel interim role (Time 1) and later moved into foundation year 1 roles (Times 2 and 3) during the COVID\u201019 pandemic. Doctors completed the Tolerance of Ambiguity of Medical Students and Doctors scale (TAMSAD Range: 0\u2013100), the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS: 0\u201340), the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS: 0\u201321) and the Copenhagen Burnout Inventory (CBI: 0\u2013100), over four months. Cross\u2010sectional and longitudinal relationships between tolerance of ambiguity (TAMSAD) and wellbeing outcomes (PSS, HADS, CBI) were examined and potential moderators (age, gender, recent change in working environment) were explored.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Results<\/jats:title><jats:p>A total of 451 participants completed the survey at Time 1, 214 at Time 2, 172 at Time 3. Higher tolerance of ambiguity was associated with lower levels of stress (regression coefficient: \u20100.09, R2\u2009=\u00a01.6%, p\u2009=\u20090.008), anxiety (\u22120.06, R2\u2009=\u00a01.6%, p\u2009=\u20090.009), depression (\u22120.03, R2\u2009=\u00a01.1%, p\u2009=\u20090.03) and workplace burnout (\u22120.40, R2\u2009=\u00a03.9%, p\u2009&lt;\u20090.001) at Time 1. It was associated with lower levels of anxiety (\u22120.08, R2\u2009=\u00a02.4%, p\u2009=\u20090.03) at Time 2 and stress (\u22120.16, R2\u2009=\u00a03.4%, p\u2009=\u20090.02) at Time 3. Individual factors (being over 25\u2009years, being female) and workplace factors (not moving location) seemed to strengthen the relationship between tolerance of ambiguity and psychological wellbeing.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Conclusion<\/jats:title><jats:p>There appears to be a longitudinal relationship between lower tolerance of ambiguity and reduced psychological wellbeing in early career doctors within the UK. This study emphasises the importance of supporting all graduating doctors to navigate clinical ambiguity however further research is needed outside of the context of COVID\u201019.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.1111\/medu.15743","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,6,17]],"date-time":"2025-06-17T04:58:31Z","timestamp":1750136311000},"page":"1094-1104","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1002\/crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":3,"title":["Tolerance of ambiguity and psychological wellbeing in newly qualified doctors: An analysis over multiple time points"],"prefix":"10.1111","volume":"59","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-6342-9555","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Jason","family":"Hancock","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Health Professionals Education and Wellbeing Research Group, Department of Health and Community Sciences, Faculty of Health and Life Sciences University of Exeter  UK"},{"name":"Devon Partnership NHS Trust  UK"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-0551-9157","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Obioha C.","family":"Ukoumunne","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"NIHR Applied Research Collaboration South West Peninsula (PenARC), Department of Health and Community Sciences, Faculty of Health and Life Sciences University of Exeter  UK"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-4687-7556","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Bryan","family":"Burford","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Medical Education, School of Medicine Newcastle University  UK"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Gillian","family":"Vance","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Medical Education, School of Medicine Newcastle University  UK"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-4551-5860","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Thomas","family":"Gale","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Medical Education, Collaboration for the Advancement of Medical Education Research, Peninsula Medical School University of Plymouth  UK"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-1800-773X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Karen","family":"Mattick","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Health Professionals Education and Wellbeing Research Group, Department of Health and Community Sciences, Faculty of Health and Life Sciences University of Exeter  UK"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"311","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,6,17]]},"reference":[{"key":"e_1_2_11_2_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/S0140\u20106736(19)31573\u20109"},{"key":"e_1_2_11_3_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1097\/00001888\u2010200604000\u201000009"},{"key":"e_1_2_11_4_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1136\/bmj.n703"},{"key":"e_1_2_11_5_1","unstructured":"ThompsonJ KearneyI HorsleyL JacksonR RinneJ UppalM.The state of medical education and practice (SoMEP) barometer 2022.2023. 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