Comparison of the psychological health of students at the higher institutes of nursing and health techniques: A Moroccan multicentre study

Background: Mental health is essential to students' academic success as well as their ability to participate fully and meaningfully throughout all aspects of their lives and throughout their lifespan. Aims: This study aims to determine the psychological health status of Moroccan nursing and technique health students. In doing so, it also seeks to compare differences based on sociodemographic factors. Method: A multicenter cross-sectional study with a convenience sample was conducted with 2,054 participants in the academic year of 2018/2019. A set of socio-demographic information were collected, and The General Health Questionnaire-12 (GHQ-12) was used. Results: The mean GHQ-12 score was 4.33 +/- 2.61, and 58.7% respondents scored 4 and above in the GHQ-12 scores and thus were considered to be in psychological distress. Students' psychological distress was associated with female gender (60.4% for female compared to 52.4% for men, p = .003); living in parental residence (61.6% compared to 54.7% living away parental residence; p = .02 ), the second and the third training level year respectively (64.6%; 59.2%) compared to first-year (55.2%, p = .001), and midwifery and nursing students (61.6%; 60.3%) as compared to technique health students (43.6%, p = .001). Conclusions: It appears that a substantial number of students have psychological distress and this is likely to have negative effects on students' educational attainment and wider wellbeing.