Prevalence of imposter syndrome and its association with depression, stress, and anxiety among nursing students: a multi-center cross-sectional study

• Published in: BMC nursing 2024-11, Vol.23 (1), p.862-12
• Main Authors: El-Ashry, Ayman Mohamed, Taha, Samah Mohamed, Elhay, Eman Sameh Abd, Hammad, Heba Abdel-Hamid, Khedr, Mahmoud Abdelwahab, El-Sayed, Mona Metwally
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Analysis; Anxiety; Data entry; Depression; Depression, Mental; Health aspects; Imposter Syndrome; Impostor phenomenon; Medical research; Medicine, Experimental; Nursing; Nursing education; Nursing Students; Psychological aspects; Risk factors; Stress; Stress (Psychology); Surveys
• ISSN: 1472-6955; 1472-6955
• DOI: 10.1186/s12912-024-02414-w

To examine the prevalence of imposter syndrome among nursing students and its association with depression, stress, and anxiety. A multi-center cross-sectional survey was conducted with 1572 nursing students randomly selected from three universities across Egypt. The study was conducted over 3 months, from the beginning of January to the end of March, during the academic year 2023/2024. Clance Imposter Phenomenon Scale and Depression Anxiety Stress Scale-21 were used for data collection. A significant proportion of nursing students experience moderate to highly severe levels of depression, anxiety, and stress. Around a quarter of students had moderate depression, 22.6% had moderate anxiety, and 14.9% had severe anxiety. Additionally, 13.3% of participants experienced severe stress, with only 3.8% experiencing highly severe stress. The study also found that 46.3% of students experienced moderate imposter syndrome, with 33% having frequent imposter levels and 6.2% scoring intense imposter on the scale. Furthermore, imposter syndrome was positively correlated with depression, anxiety, and stress, and the total score of the Depression Anxiety Stress Scale (r = 0.639, p