Association between self-compassion and perceived stress among undergraduate nursing students

INTRODUCTION: Undergraduate nursing students are exposed to substantial academic and clinical stressors that may adversely affect their mental health and academic performance. Although self-compassion is considered a positive psychological resource, its association with perceived stress as a cognitive appraisal process has been insufficiently examined, particularly among nursing students. Accordingly, this study aimed to examine the association between self-compassion and perceived stress among undergraduate nursing students. METHODS: A cross-sectional descriptive-correlational study was conducted among 265 undergraduate nursing students at Tehran University of Medical Sciences between 2023 and 2024. Participants were selected using stratified random sampling with proportional allocation across academic semesters. Data were collected using a demographic questionnaire, Neff's Self-Compassion Scale, and the 14-item Perceived Stress Scale. Descriptive statistics and inferential analyses, including independent-samples t-tests, one-way ANOVA, Pearson's correlation, and hierarchical multiple regression, were conducted using SPSS version 16. A two-tailed significance level of P < 0.05 was adopted. RESULTS: The mean self-compassion score was 89.99 ± 12.24, and the mean perceived stress score was 26.85 ± 7.16. Nearly half of the students reported moderate levels of self-compassion (49.8%) and perceived stress (49.4%). Self-compassion demonstrated a statistically significant negative correlation with perceived stress (r = - 0.450, P < 0.001). After controlling for employment status, self-compassion explained an additional 20% of the variance (ΔR² = 0.200, P < 0.001) and remained a significant negative predictor (β = -0.448, P < 0.001), with the final model accounting for 21.6% of the variance. CONCLUSION: Higher levels of self-compassion were associated with lower perceived stress among nursing students. Although the cross-sectional design limits causal inference, the findings suggest that self-compassion may serve as a potentially influential psychological factor in the perception of stress among nursing students. Integrating self-compassion-focused educational strategies into undergraduate nursing curricula could be considered a supportive approach to strengthening students' stress management capacities. Future longitudinal and experimental studies are warranted to clarify potential causal pathways and better explain variability in perceived stress among nursing students.