The Multivariate Relationship Between Academic Stress and Academic Integrity-Related Constructs Among Prelicensure Nursing Students.

AIM: To examine the multivariate relationship between academic stress factors and academic integrity-related constructs in prelicensure nursing students.

BACKGROUND

Academic stress may challenge students' ethical decision-making and adherence to academic integrity, yet comparative evidence across regions remains limited.

METHOD: Using a descriptive correlational design guided by moral reckoning theory, 132 prelicensure nursing students from two Middle Eastern and two US nursing schools. Canonical correlation analysis examined associations between stress domains and integrity-related constructs.

RESULTS

The first canonical function was statistically significant ( r = .470, p < .002), indicating that greater interpersonal, academic, and environmental stress was associated with higher academic misconduct and lower mastery-oriented achievement-goal structures.

CONCLUSION

Elevated academic stress was associated with patterns of integrity-related constructs reflecting increased misconduct behaviors and reduced mastery orientation. Findings support the interpretation of stress as a situational bind within moral reckoning theory and highlight the need for stress-responsive and integrity-supportive educational environments.