Religiosity, stress, and depressive symptoms among nursing and medical students during the middle stage of the COVID-19 pandemic: A cross-sectional study in Morocco

Abstract

BackgroundRecent studies on nursing and medical students showed a higher prevalence of depression and stress than the general population. Religiosity and spirituality are common in Muslim countries and are usually used as a means of coping strategy for psychological and mental disorders.ObjectiveOur objective was to evaluate the association between religious actions, depressive symptoms, and stress among students of nursing education lasting 3 years and students from the first 3 years of medical education lasting 7 years. The study was conducted at Ibn Zohr University of Agadir, Morocco.MethodA sample of different stages of nursing and medical students was recruited. Religiosity was assessed by Muslim Belief into Action (M.BIAC) scale. The depressive symptoms and stress were, respectively, assessed by the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI-II) and Perceived Stress Scale (PSS).ResultsFour hundred and thirteen students participated in this study. Our results showed a high prevalence of depressive symptoms (62.2%) and stress (66.8%). The depression scores were higher in the following subsample categories: students in the first 2 years of studies, female medical students, and nursing students with significant differences. The recorded religiosity was greater among students without depression compared to students with depression (p < 0.001). In the multivariate regression, the BIAC score demonstrated religiosity as neither a risk factor nor a protective factor of depression.ConclusionReligiosity constitutes a protective factor of depression and stress among nursing and medical students. This should improve the student's ability to cope with stressful situations during their training. Prospective studies are needed to further investigate this association and how religiosity improves mental health. This would contribute to improved academic performance and wellbeing among medical and nursing students.

Mental health outcomes and socio-demographics as determinants of students' academic performance and smartphone addiction at the University of Cape Coast

“…The depression component of mental health outcomes is directly related to smartphone addiction, meaning a high level of depression among students was associated with excessive smartphone usage. To deal with the effects associated with depression, students resort to constant dgeting with their smartphones [43]. Other studies have also reported the incidence of depression in college students who are addicted to smartphone usage [1,8,11,12,15,23,29].…”

“…In a longitudinal study conducted 2023, the researchers evaluated the association between religious actions, depressive symptoms, and stress among 413 students of nursing education and found a high prevalence of depressive symptoms and anxiety. Depression was more common among students in the rst two years of studies and female medical students [43].…”

Association Between Religiosity, Spirituality, and Depression-Anxiety Among Pharmacist Students in Indonesia

“…This study demonstrates, it can be inferred that religious rituals can reduce the levels of depression and anxiety even though the association is low(r = -0.17*, -0.127*). This may be due during this pandemic, all the limitations to conducting activities outside allow students have time at home and have many opportunities to practise worship and seek tranquility [24]. Then the weak negative correlation of the level of depression with religiosity (NORA) (r = -0.166**) shows that in addition to obligatory worship activities/religious rituals, such as viewing religious lectures on social networks, giving can bring calm and reduce depression syndrome.…”