Aim: Positive mental health (PMH) can be considered a key aspect of mental health in the face of potentially stressful healthcare situations such as the COVID‐19 pandemic. The aim of this study was to analyse the psychometric properties of the Spanish version of the Positive Mental Health Scale (PMS) in Spanish nurses during the COVID‐19 pandemic.Design: Descriptive analysis, confirmatory factor analysis, gender invariance analysis and convergent and divergent analyses were performed, and reliability indices were calculated.Methods: A total of 661 nurses (425 women and 236 men) participated in the study. They completed various questionnaires during August–October 2021.Results: Factor analysis demonstrated a unidimensional structure with very good indices of model fit, high positive convergent validity, especially with social support, self‐efficacy and resilience to suicide attempts, and high divergent validity with anxiety and, to a lesser extent, with depression. There was also strong invariance between genders and high reliability indices. In conclusion, the data show that the PMS has adequate validity and reliability in nurses. Furthermore, this study allows us to confirm gender invariance, which has not been examined in other studies. The data show that PMS is a suitable measure for assessing the mental health of healthcare professionals exposed to high‐stress situations.Patient or Public Contribution: No patient or public contributions.

Backgroud and Objective: The aim of this study was to evaluate the psychometric properties of SAVE-6 in the medical student population and assess its gender invariance. Subjects and Methods: The sample consisted of 320 medical students aged 18–23 years (153 men and 167 women) who completed an anonymous online questionnaire. Data collection took place in June 2024. To assess the scale structure, a descriptive analysis of the items was carried out, followed by a confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). To analyze whether there were differences in the invariance of the measure by gender, a multigroup CFA was performed. Results: SAVE-6 showed high internal consistency, α = 0.89 and ω = 0.92, a minimum score of 12, a maximum score of 22, an unifactorial structure, and adequate convergent validity. Specifically, the following were found: the positive and significant relationship with HADS was 0.98 for the full scale, 0.76 for depression, and 0.91 for anxiety, and there was a negative and significant convergent validity with resilience (−0.82) and resilience to suicide attempts (−0.88). Regarding the gender invariance, relevant data is that the factor loadings between each item and the SAVE-6 factor were not the same, so women present a higher level of anxiety than men (Δχ 2 (6) = 42.53). Discussion: The results showed good internal reliability of SAVE-6 and good suitability. Data also revealed that they were not equal in relation to gender. Specifically, the scalar invariance revealed significant differences by items between men and women in anxiety. Conclusions: This scale can be applied to medical students as a reliable and valid instrument to assess the anxiety response to disease contagion in future health professionals.

The COVID-19 situation had a major impact on the mental health of the general population and even more so on university medical students who had to quickly adapt to the situation. The aim of the study was to examine risk and protective factors related to depression, and anxiety in a group of Spanish medical students at two different timepoints during the COVID-19 pandemic. Applying a longitudinal design, participants ( N = 472; 62.7% female; aged 18–29, mean 23.3 years, SD = 4.2) completed surveys during the first and second waves of the COVID-19 pandemic. The results confirmed all of the hypothesized models explaining the impact of protective factors on levels of depression and anxiety. In addition, self-efficacy, dispositional optimism and emotional intelligence were found to have positive, statistically significant relationships with resilience and inverse relationships with depression and anxiety. However, different predictive variables for promoting resilience were found depending on the type of adverse situation experienced at each timepoint during the COVID-19 pandemic. The increasingly pressing need for psychological assistance for university students is discussed, and various university strategies for psychosocial prevention and intervention based on protective factors are offered to minimize the effects of exposure to negative situations, considering the type and level of adversity.