RT Journal Article
T1 Anxiety, perceived stress and coping strategies in nursing students: a crosssectional, correlational, descriptive study
A1 Onieva Zafra, María Dolores
A1 Fernández Muñoz, Juan José
A1 Abreu Sánchez, Ana María
A1 Parra Fernández, María Laura
AB Background: For many nursing students, clinical training represents a stressful experience. The levels of stress andanxiety may vary during students’ educational training, depending on their ability to adopt behavioral strategies forcoping with stress, and other factors. This study aimed to investigate the relationship between anxiety, perceivedstress, and the coping strategies used by nursing students during their clinical training.Methods: A cross-sectional correlational descriptive study. The sample consisted of 190 nursing students enrolledin the Nursing Faculty of Ciudad Real University in Spain. Participants provided data on background characteristicsand completed the following instruments: the Perceived Stress Scale; the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory and theCoping Behavior Inventory. Relationships between scores were examined using Spearman’s rho.Results: The mean age of participants was 20.71 ± 3.89 years (range 18–46 years). Approximately half of thestudents (47.92%) indicated a moderate level of stress with a mean Perceived Stress Scale score of 22.78 (±8.54).Senior nursing students perceived higher levels of stress than novice students. The results showed a significantcorrelation for perceived stress and state anxiety (r = 0.463, p < .000) and also for trait anxiety (r = 0.718, p < .000).There was also a significant relationship between the total amount of perceived stress and the following domainsof the coping behavior inventory: problem solving (r = −.452, p < .01), self-criticism (r = .408 p < .01), wishful thinking(r = .459, p < .01), social support(r = −.220, p < .01), cognitive restructuring (r = −.375, p < .01), and social withdrawal(r = .388, p < .01). In the current study, the coping strategy most frequently used by students was problem-solving,followed by social support and cognitive restructuring.Conclusions: Nursing students in our study presented a moderate level of stress, in addition there was a significantcorrelation with anxiety. Nursing teachers and clinical preceptors/mentors should be encouraged to develop programsto help prepare nursing students to cope with the challenges they are about to face during their clinical placements.
PB BMC
SN 1472-6920
YR 2020
FD 2020-10
LK http://hdl.handle.net/10272/19035
UL http://hdl.handle.net/10272/19035
LA eng
NO Onieva Zafra, M. D., Fernández Muñoz, J. J., Abreu Sánchez, A., & Parra Fernández, M. L. (2020). Anxiety, perceived stress and coping strategies in nursing students: a cross-sectional, correlational, descriptive study. BMC Medical Education, 20(1). DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/s12909-020-02294-z
DS Repositorio Institucional de la Universidad de Huelva
RD 1 jun 2026