The Mediating Effect of Social Support on Major Satisfaction and College Adjustment among Nursing Students

Abstract

The study was conducted to identify the effect of social support in the relations between major satisfaction and college adjustment among nursing students. The subjects of this study were 100 sophomore nursing students from two universities located in D and G cities. The data collection period is from March 10, 2022 to March 30, 2022, and was conducted through a self-administered questionnaire. The research model was designed on the basis of PROCESS Macro Model 4 proposed by Hayes (2013). The collected data was analyzed using SPSS 24.0, PROCESS Macro ver. 3.5 program. The mean score for major satisfaction, college adjustment and social support perceived by nursing students were 3.98, 3.45, and 4.00 points out of 5, respectively. Major satisfaction, college adjustment and social support had strong correlations with each other (p<.001). The difference in adaptation to college life is when the major is chosen by oneself (t=3.41, p=.001), when the motive for selecting a major matches one's aptitude (F=5.73, p=.004), and when satisfaction with college life (F=14.01, p<.001) was significantly high. To confirm the effects on social support, the covariate was adjusted for major selector, aptitude in major selection motive, and college life satisfaction. Major satisfaction had a direct effect on college adjustment (β = .574) and social support (β = .625). Social support had a direct effect on college adjustment (β = .241). There was a mediation effect of social support between major satisfaction and college adjustment (β = .619). Based on the results of this study, it was confirmed that nursing students' major satisfaction affects their adaptation to college life using social support as a mediating variable. Therefore, by identifying the sub-factors of social support that can increase the satisfaction of nursing students who will become future nurses, we propose the development of specific emotional, evaluative, informational, and physical intervention programs in nursing education and research to verify their effectiveness.