BMC Nurs. 2025 Apr 15;24(1):421. doi: 10.1186/s12912-025-02946-9.
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Academic students often face significant academic pressures that can lead to test anxiety, affecting performance and well-being. Students who are highly sensitive to feedback may experience heightened levels of anxiety due to their perceived ability to meet expectations and their reaction to criticism or praise.
AIM: This study assessed how hardiness moderates the relationship between feedback sensitivity and test anxiety among nursing students.
METHODS: A multicenter descriptive correlational design was utilized, involving a convenient sample of 1932 Egyptian nursing students. Data were collected conveniently and analyzed to determine the correlations between test anxiety, hardness, and feedback sensitivity scale from January 2024 to February 2024.
RESULTS: The study revealed that 52.9% of the nursing students experienced a high level of test anxiety. A statistically significant positive correlation was found between feedback sensitivity and test anxiety (P < 0.001), while a negative correlation was observed between hardiness, feedback sensitivity, and test anxiety (P < 0.001). Predictors of test anxiety, based on the linear regression model, included gender, educational level, monthly income, previous grades, history of failure, use of non-prescribed sedatives, hardiness, and feedback sensitivity (P < 0.01 or P < 0.001). Mediation analysis indicated that feedback sensitivity had a direct effect on test anxiety (P < 0.001), as well as an indirect effect through hardiness, which played a mediating role in the relationship between feedback sensitivity and test anxiety (P < 0.001).
CONCLUSION: This research underscores the critical role of feedback sensitivity and hardiness in shaping test anxiety among nursing students.
PMID:40234885 | DOI:10.1186/s12912-025-02946-9
