Perceived Social Support and Psychological Stress Among Nursing Students: Evidence from a Cross-Sectional Study

Background: Psychological stress is a common concern among university students, which is also pronounced among nursing students due to the academic and clinical demands of their training. Persistent stress can negatively affect students’ mental well-being, academic performance, and professional development. Social support has been identified as an important protective factor. However, evidence on the relationship between perceived social support and stress among nursing students in Middle Eastern educational contexts remains limited. Methods: A cross-sectional survey was conducted among nursing students. The survey included the Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support (MSPSS) and the 10-item Perceived Stress Scale (PSS-10), along with sociodemographic and academic characteristics. Multivariable linear regression was used to examine the association between perceived social support and perceived stress after adjusting for age group, sex, program type, living arrangement, and employment status. Differences in stress across levels of social support were also examined using analysis of variance (ANOVA). Results: A total of 182 nursing students participated in the study. The mean perceived social support score was 4.95 (SD = 1.42), while the mean perceived stress score was 15.49 (SD = 2.82). We found that higher perceived social support was significantly associated with lower perceived stress (β = −1.9, 95% CI: −3.4 to −0.44), indicating that a one-point increase in the MSPSS score was associated with a 1.9-point decrease in perceived stress. Other sociodemographic factors were not significantly associated with stress. ANOVA indicated significant differences in stress across social support levels (F(2,179) = 6.91, p = 0.001). Conclusions: Perceived social support was significantly associated with lower levels of perceived stress among nursing students. These findings highlight the potential importance of strengthening supportive social environments to promote psychological well-being in nursing education.