Effect of Peer Mentorship on Stress in First-Year Nursing Students

The Effect of a Peer Mentor-Mentee Program on Perceived Stress Levels of First-Year Nursing Students: A Controlled Experimental Study

This study aims to evaluate the effect of a peer mentor-mentee program on perceived stress levels among first-year nursing students. Starting university and adapting to nursing education may be stressful for first-year students due to new academic, social, and environmental demands. Peer mentoring may help students adapt to university life, receive academic and social support, and cope more effectively with stress.

This study was designed as a non-randomized controlled experimental study with a pretest-posttest design. The study population consists of first-year nursing students enrolled at the same institution. Students in the experimental group will participate in an eight-week peer mentor-mentee program supported by fourth-year nursing students who serve as mentors. The program includes guidance on adaptation to university life, academic processes, time management, problem-solving, communication, and coping with stress. Mentor-mentee meetings will be conducted face-to-face or online according to student availability. Students in the control group will receive the university's routine orientation and standard academic advising services.

The main hypothesis of the study is that first-year nursing students who participate in the peer mentor-mentee program will have different post-intervention perceived stress levels compared with students in the control group. Perceived stress will be assessed before and after the intervention using the Perceived Stress Scale. The effectiveness of the mentoring process will also be evaluated using the Peer Mentorship Evaluation Scale.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Stress; Psychological; Perceived Stress
• Intervention / Treatment: Behavioral: Peer Mentor-Mentee Program

Detailed Description

This study was designed as a non-randomized controlled experimental study with a pretest-posttest design to evaluate the effect of a peer mentor-mentee program on perceived stress levels among first-year nursing students.

The study was conducted with first-year nursing students enrolled in the nursing department at Istanbul Kent University. To reduce contamination between groups, students from different class sections were assigned to the study groups. One class section formed the intervention group, and another class section formed the control group. The study was completed with 120 students, including 60 students in the intervention group and 60 students in the control group.

The intervention group participated in an eight-week peer mentor-mentee program in addition to the university's routine orientation and standard academic advising services. Twelve fourth-year nursing students served as peer mentors. Mentors were selected based on voluntary participation, academic achievement, effective communication skills, supportive attitudes, and faculty approval. Each mentor was matched with five first-year nursing students.

Before the intervention, mentors and mentees received structured training on the mentoring process, university and department orientation, academic processes, ethical principles, confidentiality, time management, problem-solving, leadership, communication skills, and coping with stress. After the training and matching process, mentor-mentee meetings were conducted face-to-face or online according to student availability. Communication between mentors and mentees was also supported through mobile instant messaging groups.

The control group received the university's routine orientation program and standard academic advising services only. Students in the control group could meet with their academic advisors during advising hours and communicate with them by e-mail when needed.

Data were collected online at two time points: before the implementation of the peer mentor-mentee program and immediately after completion of the eight-week program. Perceived stress was measured using the Perceived Stress Scale. The mentoring process was evaluated using the Peer Mentorship Evaluation Scale. The primary outcome of the study was the change in perceived stress levels from baseline to post-intervention.

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 120
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• Turkey (Türkiye)
  • Istanbul, Turkey (Türkiye), 34406
    • Istanbul Kent University

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: Adult; Older Adult
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Being a first-year nursing student at Istanbul Kent University
• Being enrolled in the nursing department during the study period
• Being 18 years of age or older
• Volunteering to participate in the study
• Providing written informed consent
• Being able to complete the online data collection forms

Exclusion Criteria:

• Refusing to participate in the study
• Not providing informed consent
• Not completing the pretest or posttest data collection forms
• Being absent from the peer mentor-mentee program process in a way that prevents participation in the intervention
• Being a transfer student or previously having completed first-year nursing education

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Supportive Care
• Allocation: Non-Randomized
• Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
• Masking: None (Open Label)

Number of Arms

2

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Peer Mentor-Mentee Program Group; Participants in this arm received an eight-week peer mentor-mentee program in addition to the university's routine orientation and standard academic advising services. First-year nursing students were matched with fourth-year nursing student mentors at a ratio of 1 mentor to 5 mentees. Mentors and mentees received structured training about the mentoring process, university adaptation, academic processes, time management, problem-solving, leadership, communication skills, confidentiality, ethical principles, and coping with stress. Mentor-mentee meetings were conducted face-to-face or online according to student availability, and communication was also supported through mobile instant messaging groups.	Behavioral: Peer Mentor-Mentee Program; The intervention consisted of a structured eight-week peer mentor-mentee program designed to support first-year nursing students during their adaptation to university life and nursing education. Fourth-year nursing students served as peer mentors after receiving training on mentoring roles, communication, confidentiality, ethical principles, time management, problem-solving, leadership, and stress coping. Each mentor was matched with five first-year nursing students. Mentor-mentee meetings were conducted face-to-face or online according to student availability, and communication was supported through mobile instant messaging groups.
No Intervention: Control Group; Participants in this arm received the university's routine orientation program and standard academic advising services only. Students could meet with their academic advisors during advising hours and communicate with them by e-mail when needed. No peer mentor-mentee program was provided to this group during the study period.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Change in Perceived Stress Scale Score	Perceived stress will be assessed using the Perceived Stress Scale. The scale consists of 8 items rated on a 5-point Likert scale from 0 (never) to 4 (very often), with total scores ranging from 0 to 32. Higher total scores indicate higher perceived stress. The primary outcome is the change in perceived stress score from baseline to after completion of the eight-week peer mentor-mentee program.	Baseline and immediately after the 8-week intervention

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Mentorship Evaluation Scale Score	The effectiveness of the peer mentoring process will be evaluated using the Peer Mentorship Evaluation Scale. The scale consists of 10 items rated on a 7-point Likert scale from 1 (strongly disagree) to 7 (strongly agree), with total scores ranging from 10 to 70. Higher scores indicate a more effective mentoring process.	Immediately after the 8-week intervention

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Istanbul Kent University
• Investigators: Study Director: Seher Yurt, PhD, seher.yurt@kent.edu.tr

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): November 3, 2025
• Primary Completion (Actual): December 29, 2025
• Study Completion (Actual): January 2, 2026

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: May 20, 2026
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: May 20, 2026
• First Posted (Actual): May 27, 2026

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): May 27, 2026
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: May 20, 2026
• Last Verified: May 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Other Study ID Numbers: IKU-NRS-ZA-1

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: NO

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No