Analyzing nursing students' mental health profiles at the onset of COVID-19

• Published in: Archives of psychiatric nursing Vol. 50; pp. 74 - 82
• Main Authors: Horton, Abby Grammer, Lawson, Michael A.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Elsevier Inc 01.06.2024
• Subjects: Adaptation, Psychological; Adult; Anxiety; COVID-19 - psychology; COVID-19 pandemic; Depression; Education, Nursing, Baccalaureate; Female; Humans; Male; Mental Health; Resilience; Resilience, Psychological; SARS-CoV-2; Southeastern United States - epidemiology; Stress/coping; Students, Nursing - psychology; Students, Nursing - statistics & numerical data; Surveys and Questionnaires; Young Adult; Southeastern United States; COVID-19 pandemic; Depression; Anxiety; Stress/coping; Resilience
• ISSN: 0883-9417; 1532-8228; 1532-8228
• DOI: 10.1016/j.apnu.2024.03.012

The purpose of this descriptive-exploratory study was to identify profiles of mental health among undergraduate nursing students to understand the relationship between student's mental health profiles and relevant risk and protective factors at the onset of COVID-19. Latent Class Analysis (LCA) was employed to cull these students' mental health profiles (yielding 3 profiles) using data collected from 277 participants enrolled in a four-year BSN Program at a large, public institution in the Southeastern United States. Relational analyses of these profiles indicated that students who were the most vulnerable for mental health challenges also had the highest resilience and coping scores. •Mental Health Challenges explored in this study include depression, anxiety, and stress.•Latent Class Analysis (LCA) yielded 3 distinct Mental Health Profiles.•Twin challenges of nurses’ mental health amid COVID-19 pandemic highlight need for coping and social-psychological impacts.