Religiosity level and perceived social support for the psychological wellbeing of Muslim undergraduate nursing students

Abstract

Nursing students are exposed to various difficulties, such as the need to meet academic and clinical expectations, distance from home, and financial constraints. In doing so, they may encounter unpleasant events that might affect their mental health. Mental wellbeing can be enhanced through religion and social support. In this study, the mental health, perceived social support, and religiosity of undergraduate nursing students were evaluated, and any correlations between these aspects were assessed. A cross-sectional study involving socio-demographic data, DASS-21 items, the Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support (MSPSS), and a self-rated religiosity scale was conducted among 255 Muslim undergraduate nursing students at a public Islamic university. The result showed that the nursing students had moderate levels of psychological wellbeing (Mean=23.41, SD=+/- 14.352), 83.0% of the students were very religious and sensed a high level of social support, while they had moderate levels of psychological wellbeing (Mean=23.41, SD=+/- 14.352). Levels of religiosity and perceived social support had a significant inverse relationship with the total DASS-21 (rs=0.195, p0.05; rs=0.248, p<0.05). This study demonstrates how protective characteristics - including religiosity, being a third-year student, and perceived parental support can affect mental health. This research may be expanded in future to investigate more protective factors for the population of interest because of the constraints of using a single study setting, the Islamic university.