Abstract
Little is known about psychological distress and its associated factors during the COVID-19 pandemic among nursing students, especially during the initial spread. The present study aimed to investigate the prevalence of psychological distress among Japanese nursing students after the first semester of 2020 with shifted classes and practice online. Furthermore, we examined whether factors such as health issues and resilience were associated with psychological distress. The data were obtained from a cross-sectional, self-administered questionnaire survey at a Japanese nursing college from September to November 2020 (n = 289). We collected data such as sociodemographic variables, medical history, insomnia, and resilience (Bidimensional Resilience Scale). Psychological distress was measured using the K6 scale (scores ≥ 5). The prevalence of psychological distress was 58.5%. The multivariate Poisson regression analysis found a negative association between innate resilience factors, and positive associations between medical history, insomnia, and psychological distress. The present study showed that more than half of the study participants experienced high levels of psychological distress. Our results suggest the importance of monitoring mental health among nursing students, focusing not only on health issues, but also personality components such as innate resilience during the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic.
Highlights
The present study showed that medical history, insomnia, and innate resilience factors were associated with psychological distress among
The present study showed an association between health issues such as chronic diseases, insomnia, and psychological distress during the COVID-19 pandemic
The present study showed that the prevalence of psychological distress among Japanese nursing students was approximately twice as high as that among Japanese people of the same age prior to the COVID-19 pandemic
Summary
The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic first emerged in Wuhan, China, in December 2019, and it has since spread worldwide. The COVID-19 outbreak forced countries around the world to initiate lockdowns or partially regulate behavior and has impacted educational settings, which have shifted from face-to-face classes to online classes [3]. These changes in educational methods have placed a burden on university students in developing infrastructure, acquiring digital skills, and feeling lonely due to thinning interpersonal relationships [4]. University students have experienced stress due to the sudden change in educational methods, in addition to the COVID-19 infection itself
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