Emotion regulation and positive mental health in nursing students: Pre-post changes following an educational program

Emotion regulation difficulties and positive mental health (PMH) are key determinants of well-being and professional development among nursing students. However, evidence on the combined examination of these constructs and on changes following PMH-based educational programs during the early stages of nursing education remains limited. Gender-related similarities and differences in emotion regulation and PMH have also received limited attention in this population.

This study aimed to assess emotion regulation and PMH levels among first-year nursing students, with gender comparisons examined as an exploratory secondary objective, and to evaluate pre-post changes following participation in a PMH-based educational program.

A quasi-experimental one-group pretest-posttest study was used.

A total of 195 first-year nursing students from a Spanish university participated. Emotion regulation was assessed using the Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale (DERS), and PMH was measured using the PMH Questionnaire (PMHQ). Baseline gender differences were examined using independent samples t-tests. Pre-post changes were analysed using paired samples t-tests, and gender differences in change scores using independent t-tests.

At baseline, students showed variability in emotion regulation and relatively stable PMH levels. Exploratory gender comparisons found no significant differences in overall emotion regulation or PMH, except for higher prosocial behavior in female students. Following participation in the educational program, significant pre-post changes were observed in several DERS dimensions, including non-acceptance, goal-directed behavior, access to regulation strategies, emotional clarity, and total DERS score (p < .05). Changes in PMH were limited, with a small but significant decrease observed only in autonomy. Gender differences in pre-post change scores were exploratory and minimal, with only emotional clarity showing a small significant difference.

Following participation in the PMH-based educational program, pre-post changes were observed in several dimensions of DERS, whereas changes in PMH were limited. Exploratory analyses identified few gender differences, although these findings should be interpreted cautiously given the imbalance in gender representation. These findings suggest that integrating structured emotion regulation training into nursing curricula may be a promising educational approach and highlight the need for controlled longitudinal studies to further examine whether and to what extent such programmes contribute to changes in emotion regulation, PMH, and well-being.