AUTHOR=Rammouz Ismail , Lahlou Laila , Salehddine Zineb , Eloumary Omar , Laaraj Hicham , Ouhamou Mina , Mouhadi Khalid , Doufik Jalal , Aalouane Rachid , Boujraf Said 

TITLE=Religiosity, stress, and depressive symptoms among nursing and medical students during the middle stage of the COVID-19 pandemic: A cross-sectional study in Morocco

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Psychiatry

VOLUME=Volume 14 - 2023

YEAR=2023

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/psychiatry/articles/10.3389/fpsyt.2023.1123356

DOI=10.3389/fpsyt.2023.1123356

ISSN=1664-0640

ABSTRACT=Among nurses and medical students, many studies showed higher prevalence of depression and stress than general population. Religiosity and spirituality are common in Muslim countries, and they usually are used as a mean strategy coping. Our objective was to evaluate the association between religious actions, depressive symptoms and stress among nursing and medical students from all three first years in Agadir University (Morocco)
A sample of different stages of nursing and medical students was recruited. The religiosity was assessed by Muslim Belief Into Action. The depressive symptoms and stress were respectively assessed by Beck Depression Inventory (BDI II) and Perceived Stress Scale (PSS)
Four hundred and thirteen students participated in this study. Our results showed high prevalence of depressive symptoms (62,2 %) and stress. (66,8 %). The depression scores were higher in the two first years, among female medical students, and nursing students with significant differences. The religiosity was greater among students without depression than among students with depression (p<0.001). In the multivariate regression the BIAC score of religiosity was not risk factor neither protective factor of depression 
Prospective studies are needed to further investigate this association and how religiosity improves the mental health. Which would contribute to improve academic performances and wellbeing among medical and nursing students.