Defining characteristics predicting mental health disorders among undergraduate students in the post-COVID-19 era: a...

to evaluate defining characteristics of nursing diagnoses that are predictors of mental health disorders among undergraduate students in the post-COVID-19 era.

cross-sectional, multicenter study conducted with undergraduate students from four public universities in the state of Minas Gerais. Data were collected through a structured, online questionnaire with sociodemographic and clinical variables. The presence of defining characteristics included in the Nursing Diagnoses of Anxiety, Change Stress Syndrome; Post-Trauma Syndrome; Stress Overload and Chronic Sadness, present in the NANDA-I taxonomy, was also investigated through self-report. The Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale and the Impact of Events Scale-Revised were also used. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was performed to determine the defining characteristics that were configured as predictors of mental health disorders. Adjusted odds ratios were estimated, along with 95% confidence intervals, at 5% significance.

2,349 undergraduate students participated in the study. The presence of 24 physical, behavioral, cognitive, and emotional defining characteristics of the nursing diagnoses in question was investigated. Of these, 13 emerged as predictors for anxiety symptoms; 15 for stress symptoms; 11 for depression symptoms; and 15 for post-traumatic stress disorder.

physical, behavioral, cognitive, and emotional defining characteristics of NANDA-I nursing diagnoses were evidenced as predictors for the development of mental health disorders in university students in the post-COVID-19 era.