Nursing students are exposed to psychosocial factors that generate distress, this being a risk factor that predisposes to depression. Objective: The objective of this study was to analyze the relationship between distress and symptoms of major depressive disorder in nursing students in Baja California, Mexico. Method: To do this, a research was carried out with the participation of 900 students from a public university in northern Mexico. Results: The results revealed acceptable levels of reliability, factorial validity and construct validity in the measurement instruments used: the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS-14) and the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9). It was observed that women reported higher levels of distress and depression compared to men. Furthermore, those students who worked while studying perceived a higher income, less distress and less depression than those without employment; These differences were statistically significant (p<.05). Discussion and conclusion: In the discussions, the study hypotheses were confirmed, including a significant positive correlation between distress and depression (r=.5, p<.05), as well as a significant negative correlation between eustress and depression (r=-.6, p<.05). Finally, it was concluded that eustress contributes to reducing distress, and that distress precedes the symptoms of major depressive disorder in the sample of nursing students (Chi2/gl=3.85; RMSEA=.06; NNFI=.98, NFI=.98, CFI=.99, IFI=.99, RFI=.98).

The passage of Hurricane María in Puerto Rico caused multiple havoc on the population; It caused human and material losses, leaving many families homeless. The objective of this research was to analyze the psychological effects and coping strategies in Puerto Ricans affected by Hurricane María. Methodology: mixed, descriptive-correlational, non-experimental and transversal design. The information was collected through the Post-Traumatic Stress Symptom Severity Scale (PTSD) and Complementary Scale of Anxiety and Coping Strategies in a risk situation and semi-structured interviews. The sample was made up of 385 people, men and women, between 16 and 65 years of age. The Pearson correlation analysis showed that the coping variable was positively and significantly related to the symptoms variable (r = 0.100; p< 0.049), Somatic Manifestation (r = 0.173; p< 0.001) and with the Avoidance variable, dimension of the symptoms of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) (r = 0.193; p < 0.001). These results suggest that coping strategies can generate a certain degree of anxiety and therefore the relationship with somatic manifestations is explained. The relationship of these coping strategies with the Avoidance dimension of PTSD may indicate that increasing the use of these also increases avoidance as a symptom. It was concluded that the most common psychological effects in the victims are post-traumatic stress, anxiety and depression, which must be treated comprehensively, through timely therapeutic strategies.

El alcohol, la droga legal más consumida a nivel nacional, tiene efectos nocivos para la salud física y mental ampliamente conocidos, siendo el consumo en atracón el patrón de consumo en auge. Los objetivos del presente estudio fueron analizar (a) la correlación entre la toma de riesgo, en términos objetivos y subjetivos, y el consumo de alcohol, en términos de riesgo de consumo problemático, y (b) la relación entre los factores de personalidad según el modelo de los Cinco Grandes y el consumo de alcohol, en términos de riesgo de consumo problemático, buscando analizar qué rasgo de personalidad es el mayor predictor del consumo. La muestra estuvo conformada por alumnos de la Universidad Europea del Atlántico (n=52) de ambos sexos de entre 18 y 30 años (media=20,67 años, dt=±2,23). Se administraron los cuestionarios AUDIT, DOSPERT-3O y una versión abreviada del NEO-PI, así como una tarea conductual virtual (BART). Los resultados obtenidos no muestran diferencias significativas en el consumo de alcohol entre sexos. Respecto al consumo de alcohol se evidencia una correlación significativa positiva con la toma de riesgos medida subjetivamente, y una relación negativa con el factor de personalidad responsabilidad. También se encuentra que la toma de riesgo medida subjetivamente tiene mayor valor predictivo que los factores de personalidad sobre el consumo de alcohol. Conocer qué variables son determinantes en el consumo de alcohol, y descartar las que no, contribuirá a aumentar la especificidad de las campañas de prevención y su eficacia.