Mental Health and Quality of Life in French Nursing Students: Observational Study in Several National Training Schools

This issue has been identified as a public health problem, yet there have been few studies on the mental health and quality of life of nursing students in France. This research had two objectives: to examine the prevalence of psychological disorders (perceived stress, anxiety and depressive disorders) and to evaluate their quality of life. This cross-sectional study employed a descriptive observational design and included a sample of 1,866 nursing students. Socio-demographic and health history data were collected. Perceived stress, anxiety, depressive symptoms and quality of life were assessed using the PSS-14, HADS and WHOQOL-Bref scales. The data underwent descriptive and comparative analysis by gender and education, and correlational analysis. The findings revealed that 63.5% of nursing students had high level perceived stress, 50% had anxiety symptoms, and 14.4% had depressive symptoms. There were gender differences in perceived mental health, perceived stress and anxiety symptoms. There were also differences based on years of education in perceived physical health, anxiety symptoms and depressive symptoms. A negative link was found between the PSS, HAD-A and HAD-D, and WHOQOL. It can be concluded that future interventions to promote the mental health of nursing students should be implemented.