Characteristics of Negative and Positive Mental Health Among Nursing Students in the United States

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Researchers have documented significant psychological problems among nursing students, but findings have been inconclusive as to whether nursing students are “at-risk” for mental health problems compared with their non-nursing peers. Aims: This study examined whether nursing students have unique mental health characteristics compared with students from other professions. METHOD: Undergraduates ( N = 18,312; nursing n = 1,399) were selected from the 2016-2017 National Healthy Minds Study. Participants completed the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (depression), the Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 (anxiety), and the Flourishing Scale (positive psychology). RESULTS: Nursing students were equally likely to screen positive for depression and anxiety compared with their non-nursing peers. However, when controlling for gender, age, and year in school, multigroup structural equation modeling analyses revealed that female (but not male) nursing students reported significantly higher levels of specific anxiety symptoms and certain psychological strengths than female students from other professions. DISCUSSION: Nursing students are equally likely to screen positive for depression or anxiety as their non-nursing peers; however, anxiety disorders may reflect symptom profiles unique to nursing students. CONCLUSIONS: Findings suggest a need for tailored screening and interventions to reduce mental health problems and harness psychological strengths unique to nursing students.

Nursing students’ resilience, depression, well‐being, and academic distress: Testing a moderated mediation model

“…By contrast, although greater flourishing and belonging were robustly related to resilience and academic distress at the bivariate level (see Table 2), neither flourishing nor belonging were associated with negative academic impact when controlling for resilience or depression. Thus, our findings are consistent with numerous studies indicating that depression is particularly salient to academic well‐being (Beiter et al., 2015; Eisenberg, Hunt, & Speer, 2013; Hysenbegasi et al, 2005) and common among nursing students (McDermott et al., 2019; Tung et al., 2018).…”

“…Similar problems are evident in nursing school. McDermott et al (2019) recently found that approximately 20% of undergraduate nursing students across the United States screened positive for probable depression. For context, researchers at the National Center for Health Statistics estimated that the national prevalence rate of depression in the United States ranged from 5–11.5% (Brody, Pratt, & Hughes, 2018).…”

“…Although there are numerous psychological benefits of greater resilience, specific links have been made between increased resilience and fewer depressive symptoms. Given the high rates of depression among nursing students (McDermott et al., 2019; Tung et al., 2018) and the established coexistence of depressive symptoms and poor academic outcomes, it is logical that the association between resilience and academic outcomes may be explained (i.e., mediated) by depressive symptomology. Said another way, one academic benefit for resilient students is that they may be buffered from the negative academic impacts of depression.…”

Predictors and correlates of Saudi nursing students' grit and positive thinking amidst the COVID-19 pandemic

“…Grit cannot be instantly learned or developed, but nursing students who are taught the importance of grit in school can cultivate this protective trait ( McCabe, 2016 ). Meanwhile, positive thinking like grit enables nursing students to overcome the stressful tasks associated with their nursing studies by fostering positive psychology that focuses on their inherent strengths ( McDermott et al, 2021 ). Students' emotional and psychological well-being is influenced by factors rooted in multiple sources, such as family and social environment, which impact their academic success.…”

The predictive role of nursing students' individual characteristics and psychological resilience in psychological distress

“…A study revealed that female nursing students experience higher levels of stress than male nursing students 25 . In a study conducted with a large student population in the United States, female nursing students expressed higher levels of anxiety symptoms than female students in other professions 26 . In a study conducted with 1193 nursing students in Peru, ages between 20 and 29 years were a risk factor for both depression and anxiety, and being a woman was a risk factor for anxiety 27 .…”