Levels of Positive Mental Health in Portuguese and Spanish Nursing Students

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Positive mental health (PMH) is described as the sense of feeling good and functioning well. PMH is vital for the individual’s positive functioning and psychological well-being, particularly regarding the factors important for living a purposeful life and accomplishing personal goals. Nursing students are exposed to a variety of stressors that are very likely to decrease well-being and trigger stress, anxiety, and depression. Data focusing on PMH in nursing students are lacking, and this subject has been frequently neglected in nursing practice and research on positive functioning. AIMS: To assess positive mental health levels in two samples of nursing students. METHODS: A quantitative cross-sectional study. A convenience sample of 2,238 nursing students with an average age of 21 years (17-36 years old) were recruited from two nursing schools—Porto (Portugal) and Barcelona (Spain). The Positive Mental Health Questionnaire and sociodemographic items were used to measure the PMH. RESULTS: The majority of participants were female (88.6%), and 7.7% had physical health problem and 2.6% referred to a mental health problem. The mean PMH score was 83.4, indicating a good PMH level. A total of 58.4% reported a moderate PMH, and only 0.5% indicated low PMH level. Results were not significantly different between genders ( p > .05). CONCLUSIONS: The findings of this study make important contributions to our understanding of PMH levels in a large sample of nursing students and the efficacy of Positive Mental Health Questionnaire, which is an accurate tool to measure PMH. Our findings also prompt discussion about PMH and its implications for practice and teaching.

Positive Mental Health in University Students and Its Relations with Psychological Vulnerability, Mental Health Literacy, and Sociodemographic Characteristics: A Descriptive Correlational Study

“…Most of the students showed high levels of positive mental health. Our results are in agreement with a study conducted with Portuguese and Spanish nursing students, in which 41.1% of the participants reported a good level of PMH, 58.4% a moderate level, and only 0.5% indicated a low level [ 14 ]. Young people with higher levels of PMH tend to reach higher education levels and express a greater competence at the adult age [ 15 ].…”

Cross-Cultural Adaptation of the Positive Mental Health Questionnaire for Nursing Students in the Brazilian Context

“…Its psychometric properties were assessed for Catalan and Portuguese 8 Nursing students 3 , and Catalan professors 10 . In addition, it was used for measurements among university students 5,7,11 , professors 12 , health professionals 13 and people with chronic diseases 14 . The diversity of studies shows the interest and importance of the assessment of PMH.…”

“…The studies were published between 2010 and April 2020, in Portuguese, English and Spanish. Of these, four used the instrument: one in Brazil 5 , two in Spain 3,6 and one multicenter study 7 , involving Portugal and Spain. It is noteworthy, however, that the study 5 carried out with Brazilian students used the adapted version for the Portuguese population [8][9] , endorsing the conduction of this study, since cultural issues must be considered in the elaboration and cross-cultural adaptation (CCA) of measurement instruments.…”

Anthropometric characteristics and health self-assessment of female university students

“…1 Moving from younger to older adolescence, significant changes affect the body and psychosocial well-being of young people. 2,3 Research records the occurrence of risky behavior of young people in the period of study and in a new and unfamiliar environment. [4][5][6][7] During this period, young people are considered "healthy" and they do not consider their own engagement in health promotion as their priority.…”

“…Half of all mental health problems in adulthood occur during or Methods Results before adolescence. 2,12,13 Self-assessment of the existence of mental or physical changes or presence of certain symptoms, attempts to find out to what extent one is experiencing health problems or complaining of impaired physical functioning.…”