Effect of perfectionism on stress coping among nursing students

Abstract

The current study aimed to identify the effect of perfectionism on stress coping in nursing students. A total of 295 nursing students were recruited. All participants completed the multi-dimensional perfectionism and stress coping style scale. Data were analyzed using multiple regression analyses with the SPSS 21.0 program. In the study, self-oriented perfectionism of the subjects showed the highest score among all other perfectionism tendencies. Moreover, active coping had a higher score than passive coping. With respect to the effect of perfectionism on stress coping, self-oriented perfectionism affected the problem-centered coping among all stress coping styles (β = 0.247, p < 0.001). In addition, other-oriented perfectionism affected the seeking of social support coping (β = 0.141, p = 0.047), and socially prescribed perfectionism affected the emotion-focused coping (β = 0.254, p< 0.001). Stress coping of nursing students may be different according to the perfectionism tendency. Therefore, it is necessary to counsel nursing students to use more efficient stress coping strategies to adequately cope with stress. Moreover, during counseling, their perfectionism should be considered. © Rushing Water Publishers Ltd. 2018.