Mediating effect of caring efficacy on the relationship between aging anxiety and attitude toward caring for the older adults in nursing students

Objectives The purpose of this study was to investigate the mediating effects of caring efficacy on the relationship between aging anxiety and attitude toward caring for the older adults in nursing students. Methods The participants were 142, 3rd and 4th year nursing students in C and J provinces. Data were collected from May 25 to August 11, 2023, through a self-reported structured questionnaire. Data analysis was performed using descriptive statistics, independent t-test, Pearson’s correlation coefficients, hierarchical multiple re-gression, and Sobel test using the SPSS 23.0 program. Results Aging anxiety correlated negatively with caring efficacy and attitude toward caring for the older adults. Care efficacy correlated positively with attitude toward caring for the older adults. Second, care efficacy was ob-served to have a complete mediating role in the relationship between the subject's aging anxiety and attitude to-ward caring for the older adults. In other words, it was found that aging anxiety among nursing students affects attitude toward caring for the older adults by changing caring efficacy. Conclusions Through this study, it was confirmed that there is a need to improve care efficacy in nursing students to improve their attitude toward caring for the older adults in the presence of aging anxiety. Therefore, when de-veloping a program on nursing students' attitudes toward caring for the older adults in the future, it is necessary to develop a systematic program that includes elements of care efficacy.