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The multidimensionality of anxiety among nursing students during COVID‐19 pandemic: A cross‐sectional study
Author(s) -
Grande Rizal Angelo N.,
Berdida Daniel Joseph E.,
Paulino Rolan Rodolfo Jr C.,
Anies Eric A.,
Ebol Reinhard Roland T.,
Molina Roger R.
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
nursing forum
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.618
H-Index - 36
eISSN - 1744-6198
pISSN - 0029-6473
DOI - 10.1111/nuf.12675
Subject(s) - anxiety , pandemic , covid-19 , cross sectional study , psychology , scale (ratio) , clinical psychology , medicine , psychiatry , disease , pathology , infectious disease (medical specialty) , physics , quantum mechanics
Background Over the past year, healthcare workers constantly report their COVID‐19 anxiety. However, this concept remained understudied among nursing students (NSs). Aim This study investigated the difference between NSs' three types of anxiety and their profile variables during the COVID‐19 pandemic. Methods This study used a cross‐sectional, descriptive‐correlational design. Three instruments were used: COVID‐19 anxiety scale (CAS), COVID‐19 anxiety syndrome scale (COVID‐19ASS), and short health anxiety inventory (SHAI) to collect data from 484 Saudi NSs. We applied the Mann–Whitney U test and linear regression to analyze the data. Results Across the three instruments; CAS, Item 1 “I feel bad when thinking about COVID‐19”; COVID‐19ASS, Item 11 “I have imagined what could happen to my family members if they contracted COVID‐19”; and SHAI, Item 17 “A serious illness could ruin many aspects of my life” yielded the highest means. COVID‐19ASS showed a significant difference for the profiles “known positive” ( p = 0.05) and “action taken after with testing” ( p = 0.05). NS, who knew someone with COVID‐19, was the only predictor of CAS. Conclusion Our study concludes NSs experience anxiety symptoms. Anxiety is specific to COVID‐19 or a set of similar anxiety symptoms. Further research is needed to explore the anxiety state of NSs during the pandemic.