Nurturing Resilient Minds in Nursing Students: Purpose in Life, Resilience, and Personality-Based Substance Use Risk-A Descriptive Correlational Study.
7 affiliations
- 1Department of Psychiatric and Mental Health Nursing, Faculty of Nursing, Alexandria University, Alexandria, Egypt.
- 2Department of Nursing, College of Pharmacy, Nursing and Medical Sciences, Riyadh Elm University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
- 3Medical Surgical Nursing Department, Faculty of Nursing, Alexandria University, Alexandria, Egypt.
- 4Medical-Surgical Nursing Department, Faculty of Nursing - Mansoura University, Mansoura, Egypt.
- 5Department of Community and Psychiatric Mental Health Nursing, College of Nursing, Princess Nourah bint Abdulrahman University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
- 6Department of Health Information Management and Technology, College of Applied Medical Sciences, University of Hafr Albatin, Hafr Albatin, Saudi Arabia.
- 7College of Nursing, University of Hafr Albatin, Hafr Albatin, Saudi Arabia.
Abstract
Background
Nursing students face sustained academic and clinical stressors that may affect mental health and personality-based substance use vulnerability. Evidence remains limited in Saudi and other Middle Eastern nursing-student populations on whether purpose in life and resilience relate differently to the four substance use risk profile scale (SURPS) personality profiles. This distinction is relevant to profile-specific prevention and student-support services. The study examined relationships among a study-specific modified Purpose in Life (PIL) score, resilience, and the four SURPS profiles and explored associations with demographic characteristics.Methods
We conducted a descriptive correlational study with 915 undergraduate nursing students at a university in Saudi Arabia using an online English-language survey. The PIL test was administered in a study-specific 20-item, 5-point online response format rather than the conventional 7-point semantic-differential format; consequently, the resulting PIL score was treated as a modified within-sample measure and not as psychometrically equivalent to the conventional PIL. SURPS was scored as four separate personality profiles with the positively worded hopelessness items reverse-scored, and CD-RISC-25 responses were recoded to the standard 0-4 metric before summation.Results
Mean scores were 60.55 ± 19.94 for the study-specific modified PIL, 16.32 ± 4.49 for hopelessness, 13.06 ± 3.88 for anxiety sensitivity, 12.56 ± 3.75 for impulsivity, 15.36 ± 4.49 for sensation seeking, and 54.28 ± 24.60 for resilience. The modified PIL score correlated negatively with hopelessness (r = -0.763) and positively with resilience (r = 0.737); resilience correlated negatively with hopelessness (r = -0.770) and positively with anxiety sensitivity, impulsivity, and sensation seeking (r = 0.688, 0.612, and 0.683, respectively; all p < 0.001). Male students had slightly higher impulsivity and sensation-seeking scores, while age and academic-level differences were nonsignificant. Demographic models explained very little variance (R² = 0.006-0.012).Conclusion
Corrected SURPS scoring revealed a profile-specific pattern, but the large correlations and the use of a nonvalidated 5-point PIL response format require cautious interpretation. Hopelessness was strongly inversely associated with the modified PIL score and resilience, whereas anxiety sensitivity, impulsivity, and sensation seeking showed positive associations whose substantive meaning cannot be separated from possible construct overlap or shared-method effects in this cross-sectional self-report dataset. The findings support separate SURPS-profile interpretation rather than an aggregate score, while replication using the conventional PIL format, culturally validated instruments, direct behavioral outcomes, and formal construct-validity testing is needed before stronger clinical inferences are made.
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BibTeX
@article{elfar2026nurturing,
title = {{Nurturing Resilient Minds in Nursing Students: Purpose in Life, Resilience, and Personality-Based Substance Use Risk-A Descriptive Correlational Study.}},
author = {Mira Naguib Abdelrazek Elfar and Heba Mahmoud Mahmoud Mohamed and Shaimaa Mohamed Elghareeb Allam and Wafa Hamad Almegewly and Mazen Baazeem and Heba Mohammed Mahmoud Elhapashy and Mahmoud Abdelwahab Khedr},
journal = {Brain and behavior},
year = {2026},
month = nov,
doi = {10.1002/brb3.71898},
url = {https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42975240},
note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Nurturing Resilient Minds in Nursing Students: Purpose in Life, Resilience, and Personality-Based Substance Use Risk-A Descriptive Correlational Study.
AU - Mira Naguib Abdelrazek Elfar
AU - Heba Mahmoud Mahmoud Mohamed
AU - Shaimaa Mohamed Elghareeb Allam
AU - Wafa Hamad Almegewly
AU - Mazen Baazeem
AU - Heba Mohammed Mahmoud Elhapashy
AU - Mahmoud Abdelwahab Khedr
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/11/01
JO - Brain and behavior
DO - 10.1002/brb3.71898
UR - https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42975240
AB - Background Nursing students face sustained academic and clinical stressors that may affect mental health and personality-based substance use vulnerability. Evidence remains limited in Saudi and other Middle Eastern nursing-student populations on whether purpose in life and resilience relate differently to the four substance use risk profile scale (SURPS) personality profiles. This distinction is relevant to profile-specific prevention and student-support services. The study examined relationships among a study-specific modified Purpose in Life (PIL) score, resilience, and the four SURPS profiles and explored associations with demographic characteristics.Methods We conducted a descriptive correlational study with 915 undergraduate nursing students at a university in Saudi Arabia using an online English-language survey. The PIL test was administered in a study-specific 20-item, 5-point online response format rather than the conventional 7-point semantic-differential format; consequently, the resulting PIL score was treated as a modified within-sample measure and not as psychometrically equivalent to the conventional PIL. SURPS was scored as four separate personality profiles with the positively worded hopelessness items reverse-scored, and CD-RISC-25 responses were recoded to the standard 0-4 metric before summation.Results Mean scores were 60.55 ± 19.94 for the study-specific modified PIL, 16.32 ± 4.49 for hopelessness, 13.06 ± 3.88 for anxiety sensitivity, 12.56 ± 3.75 for impulsivity, 15.36 ± 4.49 for sensation seeking, and 54.28 ± 24.60 for resilience. The modified PIL score correlated negatively with hopelessness (r = -0.763) and positively with resilience (r = 0.737); resilience correlated negatively with hopelessness (r = -0.770) and positively with anxiety sensitivity, impulsivity, and sensation seeking (r = 0.688, 0.612, and 0.683, respectively; all p < 0.001). Male students had slightly higher impulsivity and sensation-seeking scores, while age and academic-level differences were nonsignificant. Demographic models explained very little variance (R² = 0.006-0.012).Conclusion Corrected SURPS scoring revealed a profile-specific pattern, but the large correlations and the use of a nonvalidated 5-point PIL response format require cautious interpretation. Hopelessness was strongly inversely associated with the modified PIL score and resilience, whereas anxiety sensitivity, impulsivity, and sensation seeking showed positive associations whose substantive meaning cannot be separated from possible construct overlap or shared-method effects in this cross-sectional self-report dataset. The findings support separate SURPS-profile interpretation rather than an aggregate score, while replication using the conventional PIL format, culturally validated instruments, direct behavioral outcomes, and formal construct-validity testing is needed before stronger clinical inferences are made.
SN - 2162-3279
ER -