The relationship between a growth mindset and the learning engagement of nursing students: A structural equation modeling approach

Aims: To explore the relationship among a growth mindset, well-being and learning engagement of nursing students and the mediating effect of well-being.Background: Reduced well-being and learning burnout are common among nursing students. From the perspective of positive psychology, a positive education can help students obtain well-being, improve their academic performance and be actively involved in learning. The core of positive education is a growth mindset. However, few studies have explored the causal relationship among a growth mindset, learning engagement and well-being.Design: Correlational design based on cross-sectional data from a multicenter survey study.Methods: A web-based survey was completed by 1065 nursing students from 5 schools in China between August 2022 and December 2022. The Growth Mindset Scale, the PERMA profiler and the Learning Engagement Scale were used to investigate the effect of a growth mindset on learning engagement and the mediating effect of wellbeing.Results: Both a growth mindset (r = 0.272, p < 0.01) and well-being (r = 0.693, p < 0.01) were positively correlated with learning engagement, and a growth mindset (r = 0.363, p < 0.01) was positively correlated with well-being. Well-being completely mediated the relationship between a growth mindset and learning engagement.Conclusions: The growth mindset and well-being of nursing students are related to learning engagement. Therefore, schools can change students' thinking mode by carrying out positive education to enable students to acquire the ability to maintain their well-being and to improve their well-being and learning engagement.