Attitudes towards psychoactive substance use and their relationship with emotional state in nursing students and professionals

Abstract

The use of psychoactive substances is a problem in today’s society, its onset at increasingly early ages being especially worrying. The aim of this study is to check whether there are differences in the use of these substances between young university students and nursing professionals, as well as differences in mediating psychological variables. For this, we had a total sample of 111 participants: 71 university nursing students and 40 professionals in active practice. Participants responded to a battery of tests that report on variables related to attitudes towards psychoactive substance use and other variables related to their mental health. The results show that there are no differences in consumption, but there are differences in psychological variables that could mediate the process, with students presenting higher scores on the scales of depression, anxiety, stress and rumination.