Comparison of Stress, Depression and Suicidal Ideation between Nursing Students and Students of Other Majors

Abstract

Purpose: This study compares differences in stress, depression and suicidal ideation between nursing and students of other academic disciplines. Method: Nursing students (n=105) and students of other majors (n=148) were surveyed on the degree of personal stress, depression and suicidal ideation. Participants were recruited from three universities in cities S and C in Korea. Data were collected from May 1 to 20, 2013. Measurement tools were the Revised Life Stress Scale for College Students, Center for Epidemiological Studies-Depression Scale(CES-D), and Scale for Suicide Ideation(SSI). PASW Statistics 18 was used for descriptive analysis, homogeneity test(chi-square distribution) and ANCOVA. Results: The level of stress among nursing students was lower than that of students in other majors. Among the subcategories of stress, however, stress among nursing students arising from the student-faculty relationship was higher than that of their non-nursing counterparts. Conversely, differences in the prevalence of depression were not significant between nursing students and non-nursing students. Ultimately, it was revealed that there exists a strong correlation among stress, depression and suicidal idea for nursing students. Conclusion: Developing stress and depression management programs for nursing students is highly recommended. Keywords: Nursing students, Stress, Depression, Suicidal idea, 간호대학생, 스트레스, 우울, 자살사고