Comparison of Self-Esteem Among First to Fourth Year Nursing Students From Universities of Medical Sciences in Tehran

Background: Self-esteem plays a critical role in promoting mental health and affects performance, development patterns, interaction with others and the mental health. Accordingly, improving the self-esteem of students, as future builders of the community, is very important. Objectives: The purpose of this study was to determine and compare the self-esteem of nursing students in grades one to four of medical universities in Tehran. Materials and Methods: In this analytical cross-sectional study, 400 students of the medical universities in Tehran were selected, using stratified sampling with proportional allocation. They filled a demographic information form and Coopersmith Self-esteem Inventory. Data for this study were collected during a semester in 2010. Results: The results showed that the overall mean score of self-esteem (P = 0.3), and personal (P = 0.3), social (P = 0.5), parental self-esteem (P = 0.5) in the first and fourth year students did not differ statistically. The first and fourth year students presented the highest levels of social self-esteem. Fourth year students showed the highest academic and parental self-esteem compared to students in other academic years. In addition, the variables of grade point average (P = 0.02), residence (P = 0.003), family economic status (P = 0.001) and marital status (P = 0.04) had a statistically significant influence on students’ self-esteem. Conclusions: Given the undeniable relationship between self-esteem and interpersonal ability to interact, as an inseparable component of effective care process, assessing and identifying factors associated with nursing students is a valuable step in improving the quality of nursing care provided in a future career of this major segment of the community.