Gender differences in acute and perceived stress, bullying, and academic motivation among nursing and midwifery students.

BACKGROUND

College-aged students are at risk for experiencing negative events that may influence their future health and life. Those negative events or stressors may vary in type and severity. Stress and bullying are prevalent among nursing students that may affect their academic motivation. Our aim was to examine the gender differences in acute and perceived stress, bullying, and academic, motivation among nursing and midwifery students in Saudi Arabia.

METHODS

A cross-sectional design was utilized in this study to examine 391 nursing and midwifery students in four different universities in Saudi Arabia. The following scales were used to collect data: the college students acute stress scale, perceived stress scale, bullying behaviors in nursing education, and short version of academic motivation scale.

RESULTS

Students reported relatively low acute stress and moderate perceived stress. Students did not generally experience considerable bullying. Only female students reported that they experience significant bullying in form of attacking academic motivation. Academic motivation among participating students were relatively high. Female students reported higher scores than male students on all variables; all differences are statistically significant except for bullying.

CONCLUSION

The findings of this study contribute to the literature on the prevalence of stress and bullying among nursing and midwifery students and their influence on academic motivation. Also, the results provide further evidence to the gender differences in stress, bullying, and academic motivation among them. The study highlights the importance of supporting nursing and midwifery students, specifically female student, by providing supportive and encouraging environment to help them succeed in their study and love their future career.