perceived stress

Nursing critically ill patients can lead to death anxiety. Some factors can predict death anxiety in nurses, one of which is the meaning of life. There are factors that can strengthen or weaken the relationship between death anxiety and the meaning of life in nurses, one of which is perceived stress. This study aims to assess the mediating role of perceived stress in the relationship between the meaning of life and death anxiety in nurses. 

This is a correlational study using structural equation modeling (SEM). The participants were 240 nurses working in public hospitals in Isfahan, Iran, in 2023. They were selected using a convenience sampling method from two hospitals. The data collection tools included a demographic form, the Meaning in Life Questionnaire (MLQ), the Death Anxiety Scale (DAS), and the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS). Pearson’s correlation test and SEM were used for data analysis in SPSS software, version 23 and Amos software.

Out of 240 participants, 230 answered the questionnaires completely. Most of them were female (71%) and married (70%). The mean MLQ score was 50.14±9.92, the mean PSS score was 21.28±4.49, and the mean DAS score was 7.67±2.45. The analyses showed that meaning in life was negatively related to death anxiety (β=-0.160, P=0.009), while perceived stress was positively related to death anxiety (β=0.216, P=0.002). Also, the indirect relationship between the meaning of life and death anxiety through perceived stress was negative and significant (β=-0.702, P=0.006). 

There is a negative relationship between the meaning of life and death anxiety in Iranian nurses. Perceived stress can exacerbate death anxiety in Iranian nurses. In this regard, it is recommended to hold stress management and death awareness courses for nurses to control their death anxiety and stress.

 The use of smartphones has significantly increased among students. Although this technology offers various benefits, its misuse can lead to negative consequences, such as nomophobia. Given the adverse effects of nomophobia, this study aims to investigate the relationship between nomophobia, perceived stress, and perceived social support among medical students at Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences.

This cross-sectional study was conducted in 2023 on a sample of 273 medical students at Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences, selected through convenience sampling. Data were collected using demographic checklist, the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS), and the Nomophobia Questionnaire (NMP-Q). Statistical analysis was performed using SPSS and AMOS software (version 24) through descriptive and analytical statistics, as well as path analysis. A significance level of P < 0.05 was considered.

The participants had a mean age of 23.31±2.99 years, and 57.5% were female. All students reported experiencing some degree of nomophobia, with 56% at a moderate level, 12.8% at a mild level, and 31.1% at a severe level. Path analysis revealed a significant direct relationship between perceived stress and the severity of nomophobia (r=0.24, P<0.05). However, no significant association was observed between nomophobia and perceived social support (r=0.19, P>0.05). The model fit indicated that perceived stress and perceived social support collectively accounted for 6.0% of the variance in nomophobia severity. Goodness-of-fit indices confirmed an acceptable model fit (CMIN/df = 1.85, IFI = 0.95, TLI = 0.85, GFI = 0.99, CFI = 0.95, RMSEA = 0.056).

Nomophobia is prevalent among medical students, with most experiencing moderate levels. Perceived stress was significantly associated with the severity of nomophobia, while perceived social support had no significant effect. The findings emphasize the need for interventions to reduce stress and increase awareness of smartphone addiction among medical students.

Mastectomy surgery causes psychological problems such as concern about body dysmorphic disorder and stress in women. This study was conducted to investigate the effectiveness of Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy (REBT) on body dysmorphic disorder concern and perceived stress in women with breast surgery experience.

This was a quasi-experimental study with a pretest-posttest design and follow-up with a control group. A total of 30 women undergoing radiotherapy followed by mastectomy were selected by convenience sampling from specialized breast cancer clinics in Tabriz City in 2022. They were randomly divided into experimental and control groups (15 people in each group). The experimental group received a group-based rational-emotional behavioral therapy for 8 sessions of 1.5 hours each (for 2 months, one session per week), according to the treatment program of Smkhani Akbarinejad. Both groups completed the Littleton et al.'s body image concern questionnaire and Cohen et al.'s perceived stress questionnaire at three stages of the study including pre-test, post-test, and 3 months after the intervention. Data were analyzed using SPSS-24 software using repeated measures analysis of variance and Bonferroni post-hoc tests.

At the pre-test, no significant differences were observed between the mean and standard deviation of the concern about body dysmorphic disorder and perceived stress scores in both groups (p<0.05). While, after the intervention, the mean scores of the variables in the test group (concern about body dysmorphic disorder 43.9±6.9 and perceived stress 22.7±3.7) were significantly lower than those in the control group (concern about body dysmorphic was 59.7±6.1 and perceived stress was 27.4±3.9) (p<0.001), and this reduction continued at the follow-up phase as well (p<0.001).

Based on the results of this study, it can be concluded that rational emotional behavior therapy can reduce the concern about body dysmorphic disorder and the perceived stress in women who have undergone breast surgery. Therefore, this treatment method can be used to improve psychological problems caused by breast surgery in these women.

 Cyber harassment of students is a significant stressor in today's society. Medical students are responsible for the physical health of people in the future, so paying attention to their mental health is of enormous importance. Therefore, the purpose of the present study was to investigate the effect of teaching emotion-oriented processing strategies on the perceived stress of cyberbullied medical students.

The present research was a quasi-experimental study that was conducted on medical students of Mashhad University of Medical Sciences in the academic year of 2022-2023. Thirty cyber-damaged medical students who had been cyberbullied and perceived stress were selected by the purposive sampling method and randomly divided into experimental and control groups. The educational intervention included 9 sessions, an hour for each session, virtually through the Skyroom platform. Before and after the intervention, participants filled out demographic and Perceived Stress Scale (PSS) data collection forms. The statistical test consisted of the ANOVA, which was analyzed by SPSS V.25, and the level of significance was considered less than 0.05.

The mean and standard deviation of the perceived stress scores among medical students who suffered from cyberbullying in the post-test of the experimental groups decreased compared to the control group (P=0.003). Based on the covariance analysis, there was a significant difference in the perceived stress scores of the experimental group compared to the control group (P<0.038).

The use of emotion-oriented processing by the cyberbullied medical students can improve their perceived stress.

Pregnancy and childbirth are natural events in the life cycle of women, but at the same time, they are considered stressful experiences that are associated with extensive psychological and physical changes in pregnant mothers. Since spirituality as a hidden source of love, pleasure, and connection with divinity, helps to strengthen and protect human beings against confusion, distress, and the stresses of daily life, it seems that spiritual intelligence can be effective in reducing stress during pregnancy. This study aimed to investigate the relationship between spiritual intelligence and stress in pregnant mothers referred to Alzahra Medical Education Center in Tabriz.

This study was descriptive and correlational. The statistical population of the current study consisted of 190 pregnant women who referred to Alzahra Medical Education Center in Tabriz in 2022. They were included in the study using the availability sampling method. Questionnaires on spiritual intelligence (with subscales of understanding and connection with the source of existence and spiritual life with reliance on the inner core) and perceived stress (with subscales of negative perceived stress and positive perceived stress) were utilized for data collection. Data were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics, including an independent t-test, an analysis of variance (ANOVA), and Pearson's correlation coefficient.

This study showed that there was no significant difference between the mean of total perceived stress and the positive dimension of perceived stress with the demographic characteristics of the participants. However, there was a significant difference between the mean score of the negative dimension of perceived stress and the history of abortion. A significant correlation was found between the negative and positive dimensions of perceived stress and the source of existence (a small scale of spiritual intelligence), with correlation coefficients of 0.154 (P= 0.04) and 0.224 (P<0.001), respectively. Also, the correlation between the score of spiritual life with reliance on the inner core (from the subscale of spiritual intelligence) and the negative dimension of perceived stress was significant, with a correlation coefficient of 0.234 (P< 0.001).

Given the results of this study with respect to the correlation between understanding the connection with the source of existence and perceived stress in the negative and positive dimensions, it seems that women's possession of spiritual intelligence and connection with the source of existence can reduce their stress during pregnancy and ultimately improve the health status of mothers and babies.

Mothers of attention deficit/hyperactive children have many psychological problems in interacting with their children. Therefore, their psychological problems should be taken into account and resolved. The aim of this study was to determine the effectiveness of parental management training (PMT) on perceived stress and life satisfaction in mothers of children with attention deficit/hyperactive.

The method of this study was semi-experimental with pre-test, post-test and follow-up with a control group design. The study population included all mothers of children with attention deficit/hyperactive in girls' primary schools in Tabriz during the 2022-2023. A total of 30 people were selected through convenience sampling and randomly divided into two groups, experimental and control (15 people each). The experimental group received 9 specific training sessions of 1.5 hours each. However, the control group did not receive any training. The measurement tools included Cohen's (1983) perceived stress and Diener (1985) life satisfaction questionnaires. Data were analyzed using the analysis of variance with repeated measures and using the SPSS-24 statistical software.

In the pretest, the mean and standard deviation of the experimental and control groups for perceived stress were (26.47±2.61) and (27.13±2.06), and for life satisfaction were (134.20±3.24) and (133.73±3.94), respectively (p>0.05). Compared with the control group, in the post-test, PMT resulted in a decrease in perceived stress and an increase in life satisfaction (p<0.001). In the follow-up phase, the effect of PMT on perceived stress and life satisfaction were long-lasting (p<0.001).

It appears that parental management training could reduce perceived stress and increase life satisfaction in mothers of attention deficit/hyperactive children. Therefore, it may probably be a useful training strategy to improve the psychological state of these mothers

 Stress is a psychological pressure that affects an individual's physical health, including skin health. Skin disorders can also exacerbate stress, creating a vicious cycle in which stress and skin diseases reinforce each other. The aim of this study was to determine the level of stress in patients with fungal skin infections and compare it with healthy individuals.

 This descriptive-analytical study was conducted with the participation of 152 patients with fungal skin infections referred to Ardabil medical centers and 148 of their companions as a healthy group in 2023. The sampling method was available sample. A total of 300 individuals were selected through convenience sampling. The Perceived Stress Scale by Cohen was used to assess stress levels. After completing the questionnaires by both groups, perceived positive and negative stress levels were evaluated. Data were analyzed using the independent t-test and SPSS Statistics for Windows, version 26.0 (SPSS Inc., Chicago, Ill., USA).

 A total of 152 volunteers with fungal infections, including 108 women and 44 men, aged 18 to 48, and 148 healthy volunteers, including 76 women and 72 men, participated in the study. The mean (SD) age of the patient group was 31.5 (5.0) and the healthy group was 31.2 (6.6) years. In the patient group, the mean (SD) of perceived negative stress was 23.6 (0.3) higher than in the healthy group 22.8 (0.2) (P=0.01). There was no difference in the level of perceived positive stress between the healthy 17.0 (3.8) and the patient 16.7 (5.4) groups.

 The level of negative perceived stress was higher in patients with fungal skin infections compared to healthy individuals. Psychological interventions aimed at training patients in perceived stress management appear to be necessary.

This study aims to determine the effectiveness of yoga exercises in reducing perceived stress and improving the organizational resilience of nurses during the COVID-19 pandemic.

This is a controlled randomized controlled trial. The study population consists of all nurses from the corona ward at Shahid Mohammadi Hospital in Bandar Abbas, southern Iran. Participants were 22 eligible nurses with the highest perceived stress scale (PSS) score who were randomly assigned to two groups of intervention (n=11) and control (n=11). The Connor-Davidson resilience scale was used to measure their organizational resilience before and after the intervention. Statistical analyses, including one-way analysis of variance and chi-square test, were conducted in SPSS software, version 20. The significance level was set at 0.05.

In the intervention group, the mean PSS score decreased and organizational resilience improved compared to the control group after yoga exercises. The difference between pre-test and post-test scores were significant (P<0.05). 

A four-week yoga intervention can significantly reduce perceived stress and improve the resilience in nurses. As an accessible and low-cost intervention, yoga can help improve the mental health of nurses and potentially increase the overall quality of health care.

Sexual relationship between couples is an important aspect, with one of its most crucial functions being the creation of intimacy and strengthening emotional relationships between spouses. The present study aimed to determine the moderating role of marital intimacy in the relationship between perceived stress and sexual function of men.

This is a descriptive-correlation study in which structural equation modeling method is used. The statistical population included Iranian married men aged 25 to 45 residing in Tehran and Isfahan Provinces in 2023 who had been living together for at least one year. Among them, a total of 204 individuals were selected using convenience sampling method. In this study, tools such as the Cohen’s Perceived Stress Scale, Rosen’s Male Sexual Function Questionnaire, and Walker & Thompson’s Intimacy Questionnaire were used. The data was analyzed using Spearman’s correlation test and path analysis, and with the use of a moderation model.

The findings indicated a significant negative relationship between perceived stress and sexual function of men (β=-0.45, p<0.001). Additionally, marital intimacy showed a significant positive relationship with sexual function of men (β=0.53, p<0.001). Ultimately, marital intimacy played a moderating role in the relationship between perceived stress and sexual function of men (β=0.31, p<0.001).

Based on the findings of the current research, it can be concluded that perceived stresses have undesirable effects such as reducing sexual function in the relationship between spouses, and considering psychological variables such as marital intimacy can be effective in education and therapy.

One of the significant factors related to cognitive functions is a health-promoting lifestyle, alongside perceived stress. The consideration of the relationship between these factors, especially among older adults with hypertension, is of great importance. Therefore, this study aimed to model the structural relationships between a health-promoting lifestyle and cognitive functions, through the mediating role of perceived stress in older adults with hypertension. This descriptive research employed a correlational method using structural equation modeling (SEM). The statistical population consisted of older adults with hypertension from health centers in Urmia during the first six months of 2023, among whom a sample of 250 individuals (135 men and 115 women) were selected through convenience sampling. Data were collected using Wilson et al.’s cognitive functions questionnaire, Walker et al.’s health-promoting lifestyle profile and the Cohen’s perceived stress scale. Data were analyzed using Pearson’s correlation coefficients and SEM in SPSS-22 and AMOS software. The findings indicated a direct relationship between a health-promoting lifestyle and cognitive functions. Additionally, the bootstrap test showed that perceived stress mediates the relationship between a health-promoting lifestyle and cognitive functions. Specifically, 6% of the variance in cognitive functions was predicted by perceived stress, and 18% by a health-promoting lifestyle. Hence, it can be concluded that perceived stress mediates the relationship between a health-promoting lifestyle and cognitive functions. Therefore, psychologists and therapists in health centers, nursing homes, and psychological service clinics can focus on a health-promoting lifestyle and perceived stress to improve cognitive functions in older adults.

With the spread of COVID-19 around the world, governments were forced to close scientific institutions and universities to control the spread of the disease, so these factors required them to use virtual education in an unprecedented way. Increasing the use of this type of education caused an increase in stress among students and somehow affected their academic motivation. Therefore, the present study was conducted with the aim of the comparison of perceived stress and academic motivation of students under virtual education in different fields of Baqiyatallah University of Medical Sciences.

The present study is a descriptive cross-sectional study that was conducted from 2020 to 2021 at Baqiyatallah University of Medical Sciences among 300 students. To collect information, three demographic questionnaires, Cohen's perceived stress and, Harter's academic motivation were used, which were collected virtually and analyzed with the help of SPSS 22 software.

(70.2%) of students had a high level of academic motivation and (83.4%) reported a high level of perceived stress. Pharmacy students had the highest medical students had the lowest level of perceived stress, and dental and medical students had the highest and lowest levels of academic motivation, respectively.

According to the results of this study, most of the students under virtual education had experienced severe perceived stress, and high academic motivation.Therefore, by making appropriate decisions and planning, it is possible to prevent the occurrence of psychological disorders caused by high stress as well as the educational pressure of students and increase the quality of their learning.

In order to achieve the development of health in the world, the role of women should be paid attention to, especially during youth and pregnancy. Therefore, the current research was conducted with the aim of comparing self-compassion, acceptance and action and perceived stress in pregnant and non-pregnant women aged 18 to 30 in Qom city.

The present research method was descriptive-comparative. The statistical population included all pregnant and non-pregnant women aged 18-30 who lived in Qom city in 2022. The research sample consisted of 185 people who were selected by the convenience method. Data collection instruments included demographic questionnaire, "Self-Compassion Scale", "Acceptance and Action Questionnaire-II" and "Perceived Stress Scale". The validity of the tools was limited to previous researches. The reliability of the instruments was measured by internal consistency method by calculating Cronbach's alpha coefficient. Data collection was done from clients present in the clinics and offices of obstetricians and gynecologists in Qom city. The obtained data were analyzed in SPSS. 26.

The results of multivariate analysis of variance and t-test showed that there is no significant difference between self-compassion and acceptance and action of pregnant and non-pregnant women, but there is a difference between the perceived stress of pregnant and non-pregnant women in the subscale of positive perception of tension. It is significant at the error level of 0.05.

The positive perception of tension in pregnant women is more than that of non-pregnant women. Therefore, therapists and counselors are suggested to conduct training courses to increase the positive perception of tension for young non-pregnant women.

The outbreak of Covid-19 is a major health crisis that has changed the lifestyles of many people around the world. There is widespread concern about the impact of Covid-19 and its associated limitations on mental health. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of online yoga and mindfulness training on perceived stress and resilience of young females during the Covid-19 pandemic.

The research method was quasi-experimental with a pretest-posttest design with a control group. The sample consisted of 70 young women (27.64 ± 6.45 years) who were selected by convenience sampling and randomly divided into experimental and control groups (35 subjects in each group). The experimental group performed 21 sessions of yoga practice and mindfulness for 21 consecutive days. Both groups were assessed using the Cohen et al. (1983) Perceived Stress and Connor & Davidson (2003) Resilience Scales in both pre-test and post-test. Data were analyzed using SPSS25 with multivariate analysis of covariance at the significant level of P ≥ 0.05.

The results of multivariate analysis of variance showed a significant difference between the post-test scores of the two groups with a decrease in perceived stress and an increase in resilience in the experimental group. However, in the control group, a slight increase and decrease in stress and resilience were observed in the post-test, respectively, which was not significant (P =0.001).

Developing online yoga and mindfulness -based intervention programs seems to help reduce stress and increase resilience in young females in stressful situations.

 Breast cancer is the third most common cancer in the world, the most common cancer among women, and the second cause of cancer-related death among them.The present study aimed to predict the meaning of life based on the sense of coherence and defense mechanisms with the mediation of perceived stress in women with breast cancer in Qazvin.

The present research was conducted based on a descriptive-analytical design. The statistical population included all women with breast cancer in Qazvin in 2023 (n=200). From this population, 126 cases were selected using Morgan's table and available sampling. Data were analyzed in SPSS (version 26) and SmartPLS (version 3.0.1) software packages using structural equation modeling.

An inverse and significant relationship was detected between sense of coherence and  perceived stress (P=0.006; r= -0.478), defense mechanisms and perceived stress (P=0.015; r= -0.458), and perceived stress and the meaning of life (P=0.044; r= -0.414. Moreover,  defense mechanisms had a direct and significant correlation with the meaning of life (P=0.005; r=  0.608). Perceived stress had a significant mediating role with (P=0.032; r=0.198) on the relationship between the sense of coherence and the meaning of life. Furthermore, perceived stress palyed a mediating role in the relationship between defense mechanisms and the meaning of life (P=0.040; r= 0.190).

As evidenced by the results of this research, an increase in perceived stress causes a decrease in the sense of coherence, an increase in incompatible defense mechanisms, and a decrease in the meaning of life. According to the proposed model, it is possible to improve the meaning of life in patients by controlling their level of perceived stress by increasing the sense of coherence and defense mechanisms. It is suggested to provide psychological services to control perceived stress and inconsistent defense mechanisms.