Stress and depression among students of the last semester in two nursing courses

Abstract

Objective: to identify the presence of stress and depression among final year students of two nursing courses, and the association between these variables. Method: an exploratory-descriptive study, undertaken with final-year students from the Bachelor's degree and Licenciate's degree courses at the Ribeirão Preto College of Nursing, of the University of São Paulo. The Perceived Stress Scale (PSS) and Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) were applied. Results: of the total of 88 participants in the study, 69.8% have no depression, 18.2% presented dysphoria, 6.8% moderate depression, and 5.7% severe depression, which is a low rate compared to the general population. Medium stress levels were the most frequent (76.9%). There was no significant statistical difference in the stress score between the two groups of students (Student's t-test: p=0.295>0.05). The data showed a relation between the stress and the presence of indicative signs of depression, especially severe depression (Pearson: r-0.755 and p<0.01). Discussion: The majority did not show signs of depression. The depressive states found among the students on the two courses accompanied proportionately those who obtained high stress scores, as recorded by other studies on this issue. Conclusion: Students with higher levels of stress are more prone to present depression, deserving educators' attention.