Dysthymic distress and hostile personality characteristics in Greek student nurses: a comparative study

A comparative evaluation of anxiety, depression and personality deviances of student nurses was attempted, using Foulds' 'Scale of anxiety and depression and personality deviance' on Greek student nurses and on controls from other schools. It was found that: Greek student nurses scored higher in depression than student teachers and the Greek women sample, Greek student nurses scored higher in intropunitiveness than the Greek women sample, but there was no difference between student nurses and the control groups in all the personality deviances, and The younger the students, the higher their scores in anxiety and depression. Our findings support the hypothesis that dysthymic distress in Greek student nurses is associated with stresses of their training.