The Effect of Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy Program (MBCT) Applied to Nursing Students on Depression, Anxiety, Stress and Cognitive Flexibility: A Randomized Controlled Study

Among the stress factors of nursing students are traumatic experiences such as death and encountering a dying patient from the first moments of their education years, fear of making mistakes in the clinic, patient care, not getting enough support from the instructor or clinic staff, and communication problems. Exposure to long-term and uncontrollable stress negatively affects students' professional identity development and health. Students who cannot cope with their stress feel stress at a higher level and as a result they may experience anxiety and depression.It is important for nurse candidates to graduate by being supported in all aspects, both in terms of individual and professional development. For this reason, nursing educators should use effective and innovative interventions to help students recognize the stress they experience and help them reduce stress. Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy Program (MBCT) is one of these programs. Although studies with MBCT are found in the literature, our country In the literature, no randomized controlled studies were found with nursing students. In line with this information, it was thought that mindfulness-based studies were needed. This study was planned to determine the effect of MBCT program on depression, anxiety, stress and cognitive flexibility of nursing students.