Symptoms of Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Among Nursing Students and Coping Strategies Used.

OBJECTIVES: to analyze symptoms of depression, anxiety, and stress among nursing students and the coping strategies most frequently used. METHODS: an observational, descriptive, and cross-sectional study with a quantitative approach, conducted with 81 students in the second semester of 2023. The Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale-21 and the Coping Strategies Inventory were applied and analyzed using descriptive statistics for frequencies, Cronbach's alpha and McDonald's omega tests for instrument reliability, and Bartlett's test of sphericity and Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin test for inventory adequacy. RESULTS: symptoms of depression predominated at normal and mild levels, while anxiety and stress symptoms ranged from moderate to very severe. Emotionally focused coping strategies were used (distancing, escape and avoidance, and positive reappraisal). CONCLUSIONS: the frequency of symptoms of psychological distress and coping mechanisms used suggest the need for institutional actions that promote the development of psychosocial skills and emotional intelligence.