Horizon of Medical Education Development

Stressors and coping styles in nursing students of Khalkhal University of Medical Sciences and Islamic Azad University

10.22038/hmed.2025.84785.1457
Volume 17, Issue 2
Spring 2026
Pages 121-130
Horizon of Medical Education Development

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

Mehdi Ashorpoor 1
Reza Mahmoudi 2
, Vahideh Aghamohammadi 2
Tahmineh Moradi 3
Sajad Solhnezhad 1
Kadijeh Nasiri 1

1 Student Research Committee, Khalkhal University of Medical Sciences, Khalkhal, Iran.

2 Department of Nutrition, Khalkhal University of Medical Sciences, Khalkhal, Iran.

3 Department of Nursing, Khalkhal Islamic Azad University, Khalkhal, Iran.

Abstract
Introduction: Stress is an integral part of daily life. Nursing students are exposed to several stressors. Applying effective stress coping styles in nursing students can reduce stress during their studies and improve their physical and mental health. The present study aimed to investigate stressors and coping styles in nursing students in Khalkhal.
Methods: The present study is a descriptive cross-sectional study conducted using a census method on 174 nursing students at Khalkhal universities from April to July 2024. The instrument used in the present study was a three-part questionnaire including demographic characteristics, stressor factors and the Lazarus Coping Strategies Questionnaire. The validity and reliability of the questionnaires were investigated and confirmed in the present study. The data were analyzed using SPSS software.
Results: The findings of the present study showed that the highest score among the perceived stress domains was the university (2.64 ± 0.55) and the lowest score in the perceived stress domains was related to the clinical environments (2.53 ± 1.10). 70% of nursing students use coping strategies well.
Conclusion: The findings of the present study showed that the highest perceived stress among nursing students is of university studies and is related to exams and curriculum. Also, a high percentage of Khalkhal nursing students use stress coping styles. It seems that taking measures to reduce and manage stress by senior managers of nursing education is essential.

Acknowledgments: The researchers would like to thank all students who participated in the study.

Availability of data and materials: Study data will be available upon request from researchers. Due to confidentiality reasons, we are unable to provide public access.

Conflicts of interest:No conflicts of interest have been declared by the authors.

Consent for publication: Not applicable.

Ethical approval and consent to participate:The present study was conducted after approval and permission from the Ethics Committee of Khalkhal University of Medical Sciences and with the ethics code IR.KHALUMS.REC.1402.016. After explaining the study objectives, informed consent was obtained from all participants in the study.The study was conducted in accordance with the ethical principles outlined in the Declaration of Helsinki.

Funding:This study was approved by the Student Research Committee of Khalkhal School of Medical Sciences with research code IR-KHS-1402-08-65 and was financially supported by the Vice Chancellor for Research of Khalkhal School of Medical Sciences.

Authors’ Contributions:MA designed the study, RM, SS and TM collected the data, and VA analyzed the data. KN drafted the manuscript. All authors approved the manuscript.

Open Access Policy: This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC 4.0), which permits any non-commercial use, sharing, adaptation, distribution, and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original author(s) and source are properly credited. To view a copy of this licence, visit.
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0

Keywords

Stressors
Coping Styles
Students
Nursing
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