Meaning in life and life event profiles among Chinese nursing students: A cross-sectional latent profile and mediation study.

BACKGROUND

Nursing students frequently experience stressful life events, yet meaning in life has received less attention in this population than negative outcomes such as depression and anxiety. It remains unclear whether profiles of stressful life events are associated with meaning in life through resilience and whether these profiles provide additional information beyond cumulative stress burden.

AIM: This study aims to identify profiles of stressful life events among nursing students, compare resilience and meaning in life across profiles, examine whether resilience mediates the association between profile membership and meaning in life, and determine whether profile membership provides incremental explanatory value beyond a linear cumulative-score model.

DESIGN

A cross-sectional study.

METHODS

In total, 482 undergraduate nursing students completed the Adolescent Self-rating Life Events Checklist, the 10-item Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale, and the Meaning in Life Questionnaire. Latent profile analysis identified subgroups, and relative mediation analysis with percentile bootstrap confidence intervals assessed indirect effects through resilience. The mediation model was re-estimated using the cumulative stress score as a continuous predictor, and nested regression models assessed whether profile membership explained additional variance beyond the linear cumulative stress score.

RESULTS

Four profiles emerged: High stress (29.3%), moderate-high stress (19.9%), moderate-low stress (18.3%), and low stress (32.6%). Resilience was the lowest in the moderate-low stress profile, whereas meaning in life was lowest in the high-stress profile. Resilience partially mediated the association between profile membership and meaning in life, with the mediated proportion ranging from 34.3% (high stress) to 70.8% (moderate-low stress). Profile membership explained additional variance in resilience beyond the linear cumulative-score model (ΔR2 = 0.086, f2 = 0.12, p < 0.001) and a smaller increment for meaning in life (ΔR2 = 0.009, f2 = 0.02, p < 0.05).

CONCLUSIONS

Stress profiles differed in resilience and meaning in life, and the proportion of the association mediated by resilience varied across profile comparisons. The profile approach provided complementary information beyond the linear cumulative-score models, with a modest incremental contribution for resilience and a smaller contribution for meaning in life. These findings indicate that assessments of nursing students' support needs should consider psychological resources alongside stress burden.