A study of academic resilience, psychological resilience and psychological distress in undergraduate nursing students in Hong Kong and Australia during COVID-19 restrictions

Aim: The aim of this study was to examine academic resilience and its relationship with psychological resilience, self-efficacy, and psychological well-being in Chinese undergraduate students compared with an Australian cohort of nursing students. Background: Evidence suggests that resilience acts as a protective factor against the adverse effects of stress, including psychological distress. Academic resilience, which specifically focuses on resilience in the face of academic adversity, remains largely unexplored in nursing students. Design: A correlational cross-sectional study. Methods: Using validated self-reported questionnaires, we aimed to increase the understanding of academic resilience in undergraduate students across two diverse international locations. Data were collected in three universities, one in Hong Kong and two in Australia, between November 2021 and January 2022 and sociodemographic information via the online Qualtrics survey platform. Results: Across the three recruitment sites questionnaires were distributed to 956 students and 477 participated, giving a response rate of 49.9 %. Nursing students in Hong Kong showed lower academic resilience (100.8 vs 102.9; p = 0.009), lower psychological resilience (30.6 vs 36.4; p < 0.001) and lower self-efficacy (26.8 vs 30.6; p < 0.001) than their Australian counterparts. Hong Kong participants showed higher levels of psychological distress (28.6 vs 25.1; p < 0.001). Conclusion: From a cross-cultural perspective, our study illustrates differences in levels of academic resilience, psychological resilience, and self-efficacy between nursing students in Hong Kong and Australia. Our findings highlight the importance of incorporating resilience-building educational interventions within undergraduate nurse education; teaching academic resilience may provide a valuable attribute to help nursing students over- come issues of academic adversity. Reporting guideline: We adhered to STROBE reporting guidelines.