Physical health, lifestyle beliefs and behaviors, and mental health of entering graduate health professional students: Evidence to support screening and early intervention

Abstract

Background and purpose Little is known about the physical health, lifestyle beliefs and behaviors, and mental health among first‐year health professional graduate students. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to describe these attributes as well as to explore the relationships among them. Methods A descriptive correlational study was conducted on the baseline data from a wellness onboarding intervention study with 93 health sciences students from seven different colleges within a large public land grant university in the Midwest United States. Findings Nearly 40% of the sample was overweight/obese, and 19% of students had elevated total cholesterol levels. Only 44% met the recommended 30 min of exercise 5 days per week. Forty‐one percent reported elevated depressive symptoms and 28% had elevated anxiety. Four students reported suicidal ideation. Inverse relationships existed among depression/anxiety and healthy lifestyle beliefs/behaviors. Conclusions Students entering health professional schools are at high risk for depression, anxiety, and unhealthy behaviors, which could be averted through screening and early evidence‐based interventions. Implications for practice Assessing the physical health, lifestyle behaviors, and mental health of first‐year health sciences professional students is important to identify health problems and modifiable at‐risk behaviors so that early interventions can be implemented to improve outcomes.

The MINDBODYSTRONG Intervention for New Nurse Residents: 6‐Month Effects on Mental Health Outcomes, Healthy Lifestyle Behaviors, and Job Satisfaction

“…The MINDBODYSTRONG program is adapted from the cognitive behavioral skill‐building intervention Creating Opportunities for Personal Empowerment (COPE) program developed by Bernadette Melnyk. COPE has been shown to decrease depressive symptoms, anxiety, and stress while improving healthy lifestyle behaviors in children, adolescents, and college‐age youth in various studies (Buffington, Melnyk, Morales, Lords, & Zupan, ; Hart‐Abney, Lusk, Hovermale, & Melnyk, ; Hoying, Melnyk, & Arcoleo, ; Melnyk, Kelly, & Lusk, ; Melnyk et al, ). The MINDBODYSTRONG program consists of eight weekly sessions (Table ) that focus on three areas: caring for the mind, caring for the body, and skills building.…”

Prevalence and Correlates of Depression, Anxiety, Stress, Healthy Beliefs, and Lifestyle Behaviors in First‐Year Graduate Health Sciences Students

“…A paucity of research has focused on health professional students other than medical students; however, more research has begun to examine the effects of depression and anxiety on health sciences graduates, finding that nurses and residents with higher levels of mental health issues are at higher risk of making medical errors (Fahrenkopf et al, ; Melnyk et al, ). In one of the few studies of health professional students as a whole, it was found that 41% of the students had elevated self‐reported scores of depression and nearly 30% had elevated scores of self‐reported anxiety when entering the first year of their graduate program (Melnyk et al, ). As these students are future practitioners who will be providing health care to others, their own mental health needs are of particular importance.…”

“…However, it is not currently known how healthy lifestyle behaviors and beliefs correlate with depression and anxiety in graduate health sciences students. Knowledge regarding these associations would be important for determining potentially effective interventions (Melnyk et al, ).…”

Changes in Depression and Physical Activity Among College Students on a Diverse Campus After a COVID-19 Stay-at-Home Order

“…Because of the major stressors associated with COVID-19, such as the imposition of unfamiliar public health measures, potential nancial losses, and the reality of life in a pandemic, there will likely be an uptick in psychiatric illness in the general population [15]. Since college students are already a high-risk population for depression, suicide, and suicide ideation [16,17,18,19,20,21], they warrant study at this time.…”