The effects of academic stress, social network service addiction tendency, and upward social comparison on depression in nursing students

Purpose: The aim of this descriptive study was to identify the factors influencing depression risk among South Korean nursing students. Methods: The data were collected from nursing students attending two universities through web-based questionnaires that surveyed them about depression, academic stress, social network service (SNS) addiction tendency, and upward social comparison from August 22 to September 4, 2021. The collected data from 196 nursing students were analyzed by t-test, one-way ANOVA, Pearson’s correlation coefficients, and multiple linear regression.Results: The mean score of depression (using CES-D Korean version) among nursing students was 13.91, which denotes probable depression. Concerning the variance with regard to depression among nursing students, 20.2% was explained by clinical practice period, academic stress, and upward social comparison. Conclusion: Programs to relieve academic stress and depression should be developed in a simple way and systematically provided at the organizational level so that nursing students secure sufficient support during the initial and continuing period of clinical practicums. Concomitantly, an attempt to reduce the upward social comparison should be highly considered.