Do academic advising and levels of support affect nursing students' mental health? A cross-sectional study

AimThe current study aimed to identify the association between social support, academic advising and mental health disorders among nursing students.BackgroundStress and workload can trigger multiple mental health disorders, especially for nursing students. Thus, academic advising and counselling help support students with academic and mental health problems.DesignThis cross-sectional study utilized online questionnaires in Egypt and Saudi Arabia.MethodsMultidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support (MSPSS), Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-4) and the Student Academic Advising and Counseling Survey (SAACS) were utilized to measure social support, depression and anxiety and evaluation of academic advising and counselling services, respectively.ResultsThe study included 1134 nursing students (mean age of 20.3 years). Students with higher academic advising satisfaction were 37% less likely to experience depression (OR 0.63, 95% CI 0.46-0.85) and mental disorders (OR 0.68, 95% CI 0.50-0.94). Moderate family social support was associated with lower depression (OR 0.58, 95% CI 0.37-0.93) and mental disorders (OR 0.55, 95% CI 0.33-0.92).ConclusionAcademic advising and social support can mitigate mental health disorders among nursing students. These findings will help nurses and post-secondary providers develop strategies to support nursing students during difficult times. What is already known about this topic? There is a lack of research on academic advising and its measurement among nursing students.What does this paper add? The current study findings add to the body of knowledge on how academic advising and levels of support affect students' experience of depression and other mental health disorders.The implication of this paper: The findings of the current study will help post-secondary administrators and stakeholders improve academic advising and counselling and understand the effect of support levels on nursing students' mental health.