Chain mediating effect of resilience and learning attitude between perceived stress and academic self-efficacy among nursing undergraduates

Academic self-efficacy is a critical predictor of academic success for nursing undergraduates. This study aimed to investigate the level of academic self-efficacy among nursing undergraduates and examine the mediating roles of resilience and learning attitude in the relationship between perceived stress and academic self-efficacy. A multicenter cross-sectional study was conducted among 260 nursing undergraduates from three universities in Shaanxi Province, China. Data were collected using the Perceived Stress Scale, Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale, Nursing Students' Learning Attitude Scale and Academic Self-Efficacy Scale. Chain mediation analysis was performed using SPSS PROCESS macro (Model 6) with 5,000 bootstrap samples. The score of academic self-efficacy of nursing undergraduates was 72.50 (66.00, 82.75). The mediation analysis showed that the chain mediating effect of resilience and learning attitude in the relationship between perceived stress and academic self-efficacy was significant (effect = -0.078, 95% CI [-0.235, -0.058]), accounting for 23.71% of the total effect. The indirect effect of perceived stress on academic self-efficacy through resilience was statistically significant (effect = -0.090, 95% CI [-0.313, -0.052]), while learning attitude alone did not mediate this relationship (effect = -0.041, 95% CI [-0.249, 0.039]). Findings suggest that resilience and learning attitude played a chain mediating role between perceived stress and academic self-efficacy among nursing undergraduates. Educators should prioritize resilience training and optimize the curriculum to foster students' positive learning attitudes, which helps students positively cope with stress and accomplish their academic goals.