The multidimensionality of anxiety among nursing students during COVID-19 pandemic: A cross-sectional study.

Abstract

BackgroundOver the past year, healthcare workers constantly report their COVID‐19 anxiety. However, this concept remained understudied among nursing students (NSs).AimThis study investigated the difference between NSs' three types of anxiety and their profile variables during the COVID‐19 pandemic.MethodsThis 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.ResultsAcross 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.ConclusionOur 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.