The effect of perceived stress on depression in college students: The role of emotion regulation and positive psychological capital

The mediating role of psychological capital on the relationship between perceived stress and self-directed learning ability in nursing students

BACKGROUND

As indispensable reserves for the nursing workforce, undergraduate nursing students must possess self-directed learning abilities to consistently update their professional knowledge and adapt to the evolving demands of professional development. The acquisition of self-directed learning abilities can help undergraduate nursing students augment their theoretical knowledge and refine their clinical practice skills, thus fulfilling the demand from patients for high-quality nursing services. Hence, comprehending and investigating the factors that influence the development of self-directed learning abilities in nursing students is of paramount importance for nursing education and advancement of the nursing profession.

OBJECTIVES

This study investigated the status of and associations between perceived stress, psychological capital, and self-directed learning abilities among undergraduate nursing students. Additionally, it examines the mediating role of psychological capital in the relationship between perceived stress and self-directed learning abilities. Thus, aiming to provide nursing educators with new directions for enhancing self-directed learning abilities.

DESIGN

A cross-sectional descriptive study.

METHODS

In February and March 2023, 900 undergraduate nursing students from 10 nursing schools completed an online questionnaire. The questionnaire included measures of perceived stress, psychological capital, and self-directed learning ability. Data were analyzed using SPSS 27.0 and the PROCESS macro tool.

RESULTS

The scores for perceived stress, psychological capital, and self-directed learning ability among undergraduate nursing students were 40.07 ± 5.90, 99.89 ± 16.59, and 87.12 ± 9.20, respectively. Self-directed learning abilities were negatively correlated with perceived stress (r = -0.415, p < 0.001) and positively correlated with psychological capital (r = 0.465, p < 0.001). Perceived stress was negatively correlated with psychological capital (r = -0.630, p < 0.001). Psychological capital partially mediated the relationship between perceived stress and self-directed learning abilities among undergraduate nursing students, with a mediation effect of -0.166, accounting for 49.55% of the total effect.

CONCLUSION

This study found that undergraduate nursing students perceived high levels of stress, possessed low levels of psychological capital, and had moderate levels of self-directed learning. Perceived stress and psychological capital directly influenced undergraduate nursing students' self-directed learning abilities, and perceived stress indirectly affected self-directed learning abilities through psychological capital. Nursing managers and educators should alleviate the perceived stress of undergraduate nursing students and cultivate their positive psychological capital to enhance self-directed learning abilities.

The mediating role of learning motivation in the relationship among perceived stress and emotional regulation among Saudi nursing students in clinical practice

BACKGROUND

Nursing students often face high levels of stress due to demanding responsibilities during clinical placement. Emotional regulation, the ability to manage and regulate one's emotions effectively, is crucial for nursing students in dealing with stress and maintaining their overall well-being. Additionally, learning motivation plays a vital role in students' engagement and academic success. The current investigation aimed at studying the link that exists among stress, learning motivation, and emotional regulation among Saudi undergraduate nursing students. The study also aimed at investigating the sequential mediating effects that motivation might perform in this association.

METHODS

A quantitative cross-sectional methodology was used in the present research, which recruited 367 Saudi undergraduate nursing students.

RESULTS

The results of the ANOVA showed that the level of perceived stress was linearly and negatively correlated with emotional regulation and motivation. Upon conducting structural equation modeling, significant direct and indirect effect pathways were identified between perceived stress, emotional regulation, and motivation, while only indirect pathways were identified between perceived stress and emotional regulation.

CONCLUSIONS

This study provides evidence of the mediating role of learning motivation in the relationship between perceived stress and emotional regulation among Saudi nursing students. The results highlight the negative impact of stress on emotional regulation and learning motivation and emphasize the importance of addressing motivational factors in interventions aimed at enhancing emotional regulation among nursing students.

The relationship between psychological capital, burnout and perceived stress in junior nurses: a latent profile analysis

Background

Psychological capital, an intrinsic personal asset, enhances junior nurses' ability to navigate transition and sustain superior job performance. This study aimed to classify junior nurses into distinct psychological capital profiles and examine their associations with burnout and perceived stress levels.

Methods

A cross-sectional study involving 480 junior nurses from three hospitals in Beijing assessed psychological capital, stress, and burnout using e-questionnaires, from July 2021 to August 2022. We employed exploratory latent profile analysis for psychological capital profiling and logistic regression with the best subset method to identify the influential factors.

Results

The results of the latent profile analysis supported the models of two latent profiles, which were defined as low psychological capital (224, 46.5%) and high psychological capital (256, 53.5%). Logistic regression revealed that introverted nurses and those experiencing moderate to high levels of burnout and stress were more likely to exhibit low psychological capital.

Conclusion

Nursing management should proactively identify and support junior nurses with low psychological capital, with a focus on introverted individuals, to mitigate the impact of stress and burnout.

Are behavioural risk factors clusters associated with self-reported health complaints? University students in Finland

OBJECTIVES

No previous research of university students in Finland assessed lifestyle behavioural risk factors (BRFs) and categorized students into clusters, explored the associations of the clusters with self-reported health complaints (HCs), whilst controlling for potential confounders. The current study undertook this task.

METHODS

Students at the University of Turku (1,177) completed an online well-being questionnaire that assessed socio-demographic variables, 5 BRFs - problematic alcohol consumption, smoking, illicit drug use, food consumption habits, moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA), and 22 HCs. A food frequency questionnaire assessed students' consumption of a range of foods, and a dietary guideline adherence score was computed based on WHO dietary recommendations for Europe. Three separate regression models appraised the associations between the cluster membership and HCs factors, adjusting for sex, income sufficiency and self-rated health.

RESULTS

Mean age was 23 ± 5.2 years, 77% had never smoked and 79% never used illicit drug/s. Factor analysis of HCs resulted in four-factors (psychological, circulatory/breathing, gastro-intestinal, pains/aches); cluster analysis of BRFs identified two distinctive student clusters. Cluster 1 represented more healthy students who never smoked/used illicit drugs, had no problematic drinking, and undertook MVPA on 4.42 ± 3.36 days/week. As for cluster 2 students, half the cluster smoked occasionally/daily, used illicit drug/s, and > 50% had problematic drinking and students undertook MVPA on 4.02 ± 3.12 days/week. More cluster 2 students adhered to healthy eating recommendations, but the difference was not significant between clusters. Regression analysis revealed that females, those with sufficient income, and with excellent/very good self-rated general health were significantly less likely to report all four HCs. Cluster 2 students were significantly more likely to report psychological complaints, circulatory/breathing and gastro-intestinal complaints. There was no significant association between BRFs clusters and pains/aches factor.

CONCLUSIONS

Risk taking students with less healthy lifestyles and behaviour were consistently associated with poorer psychological and somatic health.

Concern About Returning to Face-to-Face Classes After the Pandemic: Importance of Emotional Intelligence and Stress Coping Strategies in Health Science Students

Introduction

The COVID-19 pandemic has brought a new normality, a scenario where different circumstances trigger emotions such as concern about returning to face-to-face classes, to which higher education students adapt. The objective was to identify how emotional intelligence and coping with stress explain students' concern about returning to face-to-face classes post COVID-19.

Methods

This was an explanatory and cross-sectional study. The sample by intention was 588 students from the Faculty of Health Sciences. The Rotterdam Emotional Intelligence Scale (REIS), the Stress Coping Questionnaire (CAE), and the ACAD-COVID-19 scale were used. For data collection, the instruments were digitized. Bivariate analysis with Chi-square and multivariate logistic regression was performed.

Results

The mean age of the participants was 19.72 years; most were single and without children (96.9% and 96.8%, respectively). 74.3% did not work, 80.8% were from the first years of study, and 52.7% belonged to nursing school. About 94.2% of participants indicated having adequate emotional intelligence, 91.3% expressed coping with adequate stress, and 67.2% indicated serious concern about returning to face-to-face classes. An association was found between gender (p=0.042), age (p=0.002), year of study (p=0.027), emotional intelligence (p=0.001), and coping with stress (p=0.001) with concern for return to face-to-face classes. Emotional intelligence identified as adequate (OR: 2.580; IC95%: 1.117-5.960) and coping with stress identified as adequate (OR: 2.008; IC95%: 1.018-3.960) are more likely to express serious concern about the return to face-to-face classes after the COVID-19 pandemic.

Conclusion

According to the results, the need to safeguard the psychological aspects of students is highlighted, especially emotional intelligence, as well as to improve coping with stress so that they can better manage concerns about returning to face-to-face classes. The educational authorities should implement strategies to improve these aspects in order to ensure the adequate return to face-to-face classes in new scenarios.

Bifidobacterium longum subsp. longum Reduces Perceived Psychological Stress in Healthy Adults: An Exploratory Clinical Trial

Emerging science shows that probiotic intake may impact stress and mental health. We investigated the effect of a 6-week intervention with Bifidobacterium longum (BL) NCC3001 (1 × 1010 CFU/daily) on stress-related psychological and physiological parameters in 45 healthy adults with mild-to-moderate stress using a randomized, placebo-controlled, two-arm, parallel, double-blind design. The main results showed that supplementation with the probiotic significantly reduced the perceived stress and improved the subjective sleep quality score compared to placebo. Comparing the two groups, momentary subjective assessments concomitant to the Maastricht Acute Stress Test revealed a lower amount of pain experience in the probiotic group and a higher amount of relief at the end of the procedure in the placebo group, reflected by higher scores in the positive affect state. The awakening of the salivary cortisol response was not affected by the intervention, yet the reduction observed in the salivary cortisol stress response post-intervention was higher in the placebo group than the probiotic group. Multivariate analysis further indicated that a reduction in perceived stress correlated with a reduction in anxiety, in depression, and in the cortisol awakening response after the 6-week intervention. This exploratory trial provides promising insights into BL NCC3001 to reduce perceived stress in a healthy population and supports the potential of nutritional solutions including probiotics to improve mental health.

Emotional control and factors differentiating it in the adult population of Poland during the COVID-19 pandemic

Introduction

The public health crisis related to the COVID-19 pandemic has had a negative impact on the mental health of both individuals and entire populations. The source of stress was not only the fear of getting sick, but also the restrictions introduced, such as: mass lockdown, the need to maintain social distance, quarantine or the mandatory use of personal protective equipment. Their introduction and maintenance caused various emotional reactions which often resulted in undesirable behavior leading to infections spreading.

The aim of the study

The aim of the study was to analyze the level of emotional control depending on selected factors related to the pandemic and the introduced restrictions.

Materials and methods

The study covered 594 adult Poles. To evaluate knowledge about COVID-19 and attitudes toward the implemented restrictions, the questionnaire prepared by the authors was used. To determine the level of control of anger, depression and anxiety the Courtauld Emotional Control Scale (CECS) was used, and to estimate the level of perceived stress the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS-10) was applied.

Results

In the entire analyzed group, the general level of emotional control was 51.82 ± 12.26, with anxiety being the most suppressed emotion (17.95 ± 4.99), whereas the least suppressed emotion was anger (16.35 ± 5.15). The average stress level in the studied group was 20.5 ± 5.3. The level of perceived stress did not differentiate the level of emotional control. It was found that the higher level of the knowledge about the pandemic and methods of prevention, the higher emotional control, especially in the anxiety subscale (high level of knowledge - 18.26 ± 5.36 vs. low level of knowledge - 15.09 ± 3.6; p = 0.02). People reporting difficulties in reconciling remote work with home duties were less able to control anger (14.63 ± 4.98) than people without such problems (16.71 ± 4.12; p = 0.007).

Conclusion

Proper education improving knowledge about COVID-19 and methods of prevention may enhance the control of emotions in the population. Possible future preventive measures aimed at limiting the spread of SARS-CoV-2 infections or other infectious diseases should also take into account possible excessive mental burden caused by private and professional duties.