Common mental disorders in nursing students of the professionalizing cycle

Nursing Students' Attitudes Toward Seeking Psychological Help Associated to Self-Stigma and Perceived Social Stigma

Introduction

Nursing students often experience stress due to their educational demands and developmental stage. This study focuses on nursing students to investigate the relationship between their attitudes toward seeking psychological help and their levels of perceived self-stigma and social stigma.

Methods

This was a descriptive correlational study, in which 791 nursing students participated through convenience sampling between April and May 2022. Data were collected using the Attitude Towards Seeking Psychological Help Scale-R (ASPH-R), the Stigma Scale for Receiving Psychological Help (SSRPH), and the Self-Stigma of Seeking Help (SSOSH). The data were analyzed using Pearson correlation and multiple linear regression analysis. The article adheres to the STROBE checklist in its organization and presentation.

Results

Positive attitudes towards seeking psychological help were negatively correlated with self-stigma (r=-0.39, P<0.01) and social stigma perceptions (r=-0.17, P<0.01), while negative attitudes were positively correlated with self-stigma (r=0.50, P<0.01) and social stigma (r=0.47, P<0.01). Variables of sex, age, self-stigma, and social stigma significantly contributed to explaining attitudes towards seeking psychological help.

Conclusion

Social stigma and particularly self-stigma significantly influence nursing students' attitudes towards seeking psychological help. Therefore, it is recommended that authorities develop psychoeducational interventions aimed at enhancing nursing students' mental health awareness and reducing self-stigma.

Association between common mental disorders and quality of life in older adults

OBJECTIVE

to analyze the association between common mental disorder and quality of life in older adults.

METHOD

cross-sectional study developed with a total of 721 Brazilian older adults between July and October 2020. Participants completed three instruments to assess bio sociodemographic, mental health and quality of life data. Data were analyzed using Mann-Whitney U, Kruskal-Wallis H, Chi-square, Pearson correlation and multivariate linear regression tests, considering a 95% confidence interval (p < 0.05) for all analyses.

RESULTS

among the four components that assess common mental disorder, only three remained associated with negative coefficients with the participants' general quality of life: depressive-anxious mood (β = -2.050; [CI95% = -2.962 - -1.137]; p < 0.001); decrease in vital energy (β = -1.460; [CI95% = -2.197 - -0.723]; p < 0.001) and depressive thoughts (β = -4.124; [CI95% = -5.211- -3.038]; p < 0.001).

CONCLUSION

most components that assess common mental disorders are negatively associated with quality of life, that is, the increase in these disorders resulted in a reduction in the quality of life of older adults.