Introduction:The adapting difficulty to the demands of academic life can generate emotional variations of stress, depressive symptoms, and sleep disorders when associated with a low coherence sense that can lead to unsatisfactory academic performance. Objective: To analyze the emotional, physiological, social and moderator predictors involved in the academic performance of undergraduate nursing students. Methods: This is an observational, transversal, quantitative study with 110 private college nursing students in Santo André City, SP, Brazil.For data collection, a survey was used for sociodemographic and academic characterization, Stress Assessment Scale in Nursing Students (SASNS), Center for Epidemiologic Studies -Depression (CES-D), Sleep Quality Index of Pittsburg (PSQI) and Sense of Coherence Questionnaire (QSCA). The data were analyzed through the association between qualitative variables that occurred through the Chi-square test and Poisson regression models with robust variance. Statistical modeling of the final models' variables selection was performed by the stepwise backward strategy. Results: There was a predominance of low-stress scores in all domains among students, however, the high intensity of stress analysis was observed in third and fourth grades. Regarding the analysis of the CES-D scale, 85.45% had depression symptoms. The sample was composed by bad sleepers (84.45%) and the third grade presented the best QSCA averages. There was a positive association between fourth grade and satisfactory academic performance, reliance on disciplines, work at night, as well as the desire to quit the course were negatively associated with academic performance. The CES-D "positive affects" domain was associated with high-grade academic performance. Conclusion: The "time management" domain of the SASNS construct was considered a predictor of good academic performance in the present study. This research results allowed the knowledge about stress factors impact, depressive symptomatology, altered sleep pattern and coping difficulties verified by the sense of coherence in students' academic performance.