Maladaptive coping behaviors in pre-licensure nursing students: An integrative review
Open accessAbstract
BACKGROUND: Many pre-licensure nursing students encounter numerous maladaptive coping behaviors while completing their coursework. Signs of maladaptive coping behaviors in nursing students are identifiable and can be opportunities to provide additional resources facilitating success. The problem of nursing student persistence is perennial, and the strategies to improve nursing student persistence remain unclear. PURPOSE: This integrative review seeks to describe, map measurement tools, and synthesize current literature on the impacts of maladaptive coping behaviors in the pre-licensure nursing student population. METHOD: This study used Whittemore and Knafl's integrative review methodology (2005). Six databases were searched for reports of pre-licensure nursing students' maladaptive coping behaviors. Themes of depression, anxiety, and sleep disturbances related to nursing students' maladaptive coping behaviors emerged from 24 articles. In addition to the categories, the review table captures strategies for measuring student maladaptive coping behaviors. RESULTS: The literature reported high levels of maladaptive coping behaviors in pre-licensure nursing students. Specific maladaptive coping behaviors included depression, anxiety, and sleep disturbances. While the causes of these high rates of maladaptive coping behaviors were inconclusive, the maladaptive coping behaviors could negatively affect academic, mental health, and distress performance. CONCLUSION: Pre-licensure nursing students have high levels of maladaptive coping behaviors. Depression, anxiety, and insomnia were among the maladaptive coping behaviors. The high rates of maladaptive coping behaviors affect student mental health, performance, and success.
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Psychological distress is a prevalent mental health concern among nursing students.
“Psychological distress—including symptoms of depression, anxiety, and stress—is a prevalent mental health concern among nursing students [1, 2].”
From Associations of psychological flexibility, mindfulness, and valued living with psychological distress among nursing students (2025) · cites this paper as [2]
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Burnout and Self-Care Challenges Among Pre-Licensure Nursing Students: A Scoping Review
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- Authors
- Charlton, A. C., & Wofford, L. G.
- Affiliations
- Belmont University (US)
- Corresponding author
- Charlton, Amy C.
- Venue
- Journal of Professional Nursing
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2022-03
- Volume
- 39
- Pages
- 156-164
- ISSN
- 1532-8481 (ISSN-L)
- 8755-7223
- OpenAlex
- W4210740074
- Cited by
- 26
- References
- 28
- Citations by year
- 2026: 5 · 2025: 9 · 2024: 6 · 2023: 1 · 2022: 5
- FWCI
- 7.99
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- hybrid
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- Journal of Professional Nursing (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Developmental and Educational Psychology › Student Stress and Coping
- Health Sciences › Health Professions › General Health Professions › Healthcare professionals’ stress and burnout
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Stress and Burnout Research
- Keywords
- maladaptive coping, prelicensure nursing students, depression, anxiety, sleep disorders, insomnia, student mental health, academic performance
- MeSH terms
- Adaptation, Psychological, Anxiety, Humans, Licensure, Nursing, Stress, Psychological, Students, Nursing
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