Examining the Solution-focused Thinking and Hope Levels of Turkish Midwifery Students During Distance Education: A Cross-sectional Study

Background: The uncertainty caused by the COVID-19 pandemic has adversely affected the physical and psychosocial health of each individual in the community. Although the psychosocial impact of COVID-19 has been studied in different populations, psychosocial factors (such as solution-focused thinking (SFT) and hope) have not been previously studied in midwifery students. Objectives: This study aimed to determine the SFT and hope levels of midwifery students after distance education applied due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: This descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted in June 2020 in the Midwifery Department of the Health Sciences Faculty of Ondokuz Mayıs University, Turkey. The research data were collected using a student identification form (SIF), Solution-focused Inventory (SFI), and Dispositional Hope Scale (DHS). The data were analyzed using SPSS version 20. The compliance of the variables to normal distribution was evaluated using the Kolmogorov-Smirnov test. Mean, SD, number and percentage values, t-test, analysis of variance (ANOVA), and Pearson correlation were used in the analysis of the data. P values less than 0.05 were considered statistically significant. Results: The average age of students was 20.78 ± 1.97 years. The SFI total score mean was 49.63 ± 5.72, and the mean scores of the subdimension of problem disengagement, goal orientation, and resource activation were 12.97 ± 3.55, 17.68 ± 3.17, and 18.97 ± 3.25, respectively. The mean total score for DHS was 48.53 ± 7.18, and the mean scores of the alternative ways thought and acting thinking subdimensions were 24.75 ± 3.86 and 23.78 ± 3.99, respectively. A high level of positive correlation was found between SFI and DHS (r = 0.432; P < 0.001). Conclusions: Students who have higher SFT have higher levels of hope. For this reason, as future health professionals, an SFT approach that allows midwifery students to cope with mental disorders to serve in extraordinary situations should be added to educational curricula (such as the solution-focused midwifery course).