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. 2022 Nov 30;10(4):2508–2518. doi: 10.1002/nop2.1509

Correlation analysis of self‐directed learning ability, self‐efficacy and academic burnout of junior nursing college students in closed management colleges

Zhi‐han Chen 1, Yuan‐yuan Ma 2, Xing‐hui Feng 1, Yan Lin 1,✉
PMCID: PMC10006607  PMID: 36448492

Abstract

Aims

To understand the status quo of self‐directed learning ability, self‐efficacy and academic burnout of junior nursing college students, since the closed management mode was implemented during COVID‐19 pandemic disease.

Design

Cross‐sectional study.

Methods

Participants came from 3,051 junior nursing college students of a college in Zhengzhou City, Henan Province, China. Data were collected by online questionnaire and analysed by SPSS25.0 (a statistical package for social science) and AMOS24.0 software.

Results

High self‐directed learning ability and self‐efficacy were related to low levels of academic burnout (p < .01). In addition, the analysis of mediation effect indicated that the influence of self‐directed learning ability on academic burnout was not mediated by self‐efficacy.

Keywords: academic burnout, closed management, nursing students, self‐directed learning ability, self‐efficacy

1. INTRODUCTION

Novel coronavirus, referred to as COVID‐19 for short, was first discovered in Wuhan, China at the end of 2019. It is a new infectious disease and is generally susceptible. WHO has officially named the disease as 2019 coronavirus disease (Prem et al., 2020). The outbreak of this pandemic has caused unprecedented disturbance to the world, and all walks of life are faced with enormous challenges, especially the medical industry bears a heavy burden (Torales et al., 2020). Studies have shown that medical students are also under great pressure during the pandemic (Puranachaikere et al., 2021), which may be related to the fact that the pandemic has changed their learning modes and adopted electronic devices for online learning (Kipp, 2021). In addition, the closed management of the school has always restricted the scope of students’ activities, which will lead to a series of problems. Besides, compared with the students in undergraduate colleges, the junior nursing college students have weak foundation and poor learning initiative, which makes it difficult to balance the academic pressure. At present, there is little research on the relationship between students’ self‐directed learning ability, self‐efficacy and academic burnout in this special environment. Through the investigation, this study can understand the learning situation of junior nursing college students in the late stage of COVID‐19 pandemic, and give opinions and suggestions for improving the sense of self‐efficacy and academic burnout.

As we all know, the outbreak of COVID‐19 has aroused the anxiety of the whole society. In order to prevent the panic caused by the spread of the pandemic, closed management was implemented for some mobile schools, hospitals and public administration institutions. At the same time, the big data management platform is used to record personal travel codes and health codes in real time, and these measures restrict travel to some extent. However, under such strict management, it is still found that some students in the school climb over the wall and hide their whereabouts, which makes it more difficult to deal with the problem. Therefore, attention must be paid to the management of students. Some studies have shown that 24.9% of college students had anxiety during the COVID‐19 pandemic (Cao et al., 2020), and the main reason for anxiety was related to the pandemic's great influence on their free activities, studies and employment (Sharma & Bhaskar, 2020). It has also been found that compared with male college students, female college students showed more obvious dissatisfaction with the effectiveness of online teaching and academic stress (Yu et al., 2021). For medical students, the stress level is multifaceted, which is closely related to the acceleration of the course schedule, the uncertainty of their own abilities and the lack of clinical skills, as well as the sense of isolation caused by social isolation (Ross, 2022). In China, the pressure of most students mainly comes from their studies. From primary school to university, academic pressure exists for a long time. During the pandemic, nearly half of the students were eager to study in school in a normal way, and learning efficiency was significantly related to their psychological state (Zhang et al., 2020). At the same time, students who feel academic pressure and employment pressure have poor sleep quality and diet (Xie et al., 2020). In addition, affected by the pandemic, the pattern of academic activities changed and long‐term online learning led to the decline of students’ self‐management ability (Chhetri et al., 2021). Therefore, it is very important to understand the students’ learning situation under the closed management mode. This study is mainly discussed from three aspects: students’ self‐directed learning ability, self‐efficacy and academic burnout.

1.1. Self‐directed learning ability

In recent years, self‐directed learning ability has been popularized in the field of education, and many higher education and professional education mostly adopt autonomous learning mode. As an effective learning method and ability, it is considered as a way to improve learning effect, and it is also the premise and foundation of lifelong learning. Self‐directed learning ability was first described by Knowles (1975) as a process, in which learners make plans according to their individual needs, and use learning resources to choose their own methods for learning. Grow (1991) put forward the model of self‐directed learning ability in his theory, pointing out that self‐directed learning can be divided into four stages, namely, the dependence stage, the interested stage, the participation stage and the self‐directed learning stage. Towle and Cottrell (1996) also proposed that self‐directed learning is a process of learning knowledge actively. With or without the help of others, learning objectives were established, appropriate learning strategies were used for learning, and learning results were evaluated. Ginzburg et al. (2021) later re‐examined the ability of self‐directed learning, pointing out that learners must identify, analyse and synthesize information related to their learning needs, constantly make self‐regulation in their learning, and pursue lifelong learning. At present, due to the persistence of asymptomatic infection in COVID‐19, all courses were required to be online, which has brought enormous pressure to students and teachers (Guse et al., 2020). To some extent, improving students' self‐directed learning ability can stimulate students' enthusiasm and initiative, reduce academic burnout and relieve teaching pressure. However, it is not easy to simply use self‐directed learning ability to reduce academic burnout. Therefore, it is necessary to determine whether other variables, such as self‐efficacy, can play a role in reducing academic burnout and improving students' self‐directed learning ability.

1.2. Self‐efficacy

Self‐efficacy is defined as an individual's ability or belief to complete a task or achieve a goal. As a positive intrinsic motivation, it can enhance an individual's confidence in the face of difficulties, predict individual actions and lead to behaviour changes (Zhao & Zhao, 2008). The current popularized theory of self‐efficacy comes from the general self‐efficacy theory of (Bandura, 1997), which points out that “by setting goals, completing a series of difficult tasks, and attributing success or failure, there are contributes to personal development and skill diversification.” Especially during the pandemic period, it is very important to improve one's self‐efficacy. For nursing students, many professional courses, complicated contents and abstract knowledge may affect their self‐efficacy, resulting in a decline in study and work efficiency (Carolan et al., 2020; Wallace et al., 2021). However, students with high self‐efficacy can quickly adapt to the environment, have more active academic engagement and lower academic burnout (Nielsen et al., 2017). At the same time, some studies have confirmed that cultivating students’ self‐efficacy in school can significantly predict their future career success (Karabacak et al., 2019). Therefore, it is necessary to cultivate self‐efficacy to improve their ability to deal with emergencies and meet the needs of the health service system.

1.3. Academic burnout

The World Health Organization defines burnout as a syndrome in the 11th revised International Classification of Diseases (ICD‐11), which was caused by the unsuccessful management of long‐term stress (Harrison et al., 2021). Its concept was first developed from job burnout and later extended to students as well as other professionals (Maslach et al., 2001). Academic burnout from students refers to the lack of enthusiasm for learning, fatigue and weariness due to long‐term academic pressure and energy consumption (Xie et al., 2019), and this weariness may be aggravated during the closed management of schools (Walburg et al., 2016). However, improving self‐directed learning ability and self‐efficacy can adjust this situation. High self‐directed learning ability can make learners master the dominance of learning, standardize their own behaviour and solve problems purposefully and strategically (Montenery, 2017). Individuals with strong self‐efficacy can accomplish tasks well and achieve good academic performance (Allari et al., 2020). Both of them play an important role in reducing academic burnout.

1.4. Current study

How to adjust the pressure of nursing students, reduce the sense of academic burnout, and have the ability of self‐directed learning and self‐efficacy is considered as indispensable. From the current study, the influence mechanism between self‐directed learning ability and self‐efficacy on reducing academic burnout is still unclear. In order to further understand these mechanisms, this study puts forward the following research hypothesis and builds a structural equation model (as shown in Figure 1).

  • H1: Self‐directed learning ability is negatively correlated with academic burnout.

  • H2: Self‐directed learning ability is positively correlated with self‐efficacy.

  • H3: Self‐efficacy is negatively correlated with academic burnout.

  • H4: Self‐directed learning ability directly affects academic burnout, and it also has an indirect effect on academic burnout through self‐efficacy as a mediator.

FIGURE 1.

FIGURE 1

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Structural equation model. Notes: c: The relationship between self‐directed learning and academic burnout; a: The relationship between self‐directed learning and self‐efficacy; b: The relationship between self‐efficacy and academic burnout; c’: The relationship between self‐directed learning and academic burnout after using self‐efficacy as mediator.

2. METHODS

2.1. Design

This study used correlation analysis in a descriptive cross‐sectional study.

2.2. Participants and data collection

Participants were 3,051 freshmen and sophomores from the nursing school of a higher vocational school in Zhengzhou City, Henan Province, China. The school's authoritarian nursing lasted for 3 years, the first 2 years were theoretical courses at school, and the last year was a 9‐month clinical practice in the hospital. All participants have been under closed management since the beginning of semester. A total of 3,078 eligible students have conducted a questionnaire survey, of which 27 were excluded due to incomplete questionnaire filling, and finally 3,051 were included in the study.

The data were collected from 1 April–1 May 2022, and the online software of Questionnaire Star was used for investigation (https://www.wjx.cn/vj/woq3xk3.aspx). The questionnaire was distributed by sharing QR codes or website links, and the channels are mainly social media, such as WeChat, QQ and website links. Before the questionnaire was collected, we contacted the teaching assistants and counsellors of the school to explain the purpose, contents and methods of the research, and trained the knowledge related to the questionnaire. If students have doubts in the process of answering, it will be explained by the assistant and the counsellor. At the same time, the informed consent was obtained. The questionnaire was only allowed to be filled once and submitted anonymously to protect personal privacy.

2.3. Research tools

We used a structured questionnaire consisting of 76 items, including the general information survey (6 items) to measure the basic characteristics of nursing students, the self‐directed learning readiness scale (40 items), general self‐efficacy (10 items) and the academic burnout scale (20 items).

2.4. General information survey

According to the actual situation, the demographic variables needed in this survey were collected, and a self‐designed questionnaire was adopted, which was designed by the researcher. The contents included gender, age, place of residence, grade, reasons for choosing nursing major and whether or not they liked nursing major.

2.5. Self‐directed learning readiness

This study used the self‐directed learning readiness scale developed and verified by Fisher et al., (2001) and Fisher and King (2010), and then the Chinese version of the self‐directed learning readiness scale translated by Wang Wei of Fudan University, which consists of 40 items and was used to evaluate students' self‐directed learning ability. The scale was divided into three dimensions: self‐management (13 items), love of learning (12 items) and self‐control (15 items). Using the Likert 5‐level scoring method, the total score is 200 points. The higher the score, the higher the level of the individual's self‐directed learning ability. The Cronbach's alpha coefficient of the scale in this study was 0.983, the coefficients of each dimension were 0.967, 0.955 and 0.965, and the validity was 0.987.

2.6. General self‐efficacy

This study used the general self‐efficacy scale developed by Schwarzer et al. (1997) and adapted it by Wang (2001). The Chinese version of the general self‐efficacy scale consists of 10 items, using the Likert 4‐level scoring method, with a total score of 40 points. The higher the score, the higher the self‐efficacy of the individual. The Cronbach's alpha coefficient of the scale in this study was 0.955, and the validity was 0.954.

2.7. Academic burnout

This study used the academic burnout scale compiled by Maslach and Goldberg (1998), which was later modified by Lian et al. (2005). The Chinese version of the academic burnout scale was composed of 20 items, which can be divided into three dimensions: low mood (eight items), improper behaviour (six items) and low sense of achievement (six items). Using the Likert 5‐level scoring method, the total score is 100 points, and the higher the score, the higher the individual's level of academic burnout. The Cronbach's alpha coefficient of the scale in this study was 0.81, the coefficients of each dimension were 0.896, 0.623 and 0.65, and the validity was 0.938.

2.8. Data analysis

SPSS25.0 (a statistical package for social science) was used for statistical analysis, the counting data were expressed by frequency and percentage, and the measuring data were expressed by mean plus or minus standard deviation. Before analysing the data, the normality of the data was tested, and the data showed approximately normal distribution. To preliminarily verify hypotheses 1–3, Pearson correlation was used to analyse the correlation between self‐directed learning ability, self‐efficacy and academic burnout; Independent t test and one‐way ANOVA test (Bonferroni posterior) were used to identify the differences of academic burnout of different demographic characteristics. To further verify hypotheses 1 and 3, multiple linear regression was used to evaluate whether self‐directed learning ability and self‐efficacy significantly affected the academic burnout of junior nursing college students, and p < .05 was considered statistically significant. Finally, the structural equation model was built by using AMOS24.0. If the 95% confidence interval contains zero, there is no statistically significant mediating effect at the 5% level of significance.

3. RESULTS

3.1. General characteristics of participants

In this study, a total of 3,078 students participated in the questionnaire survey. After excluding invalid questionnaires, 3,051 valid questionnaires were finally collected, with an effective rate of 99.12%. The age range of participants is roughly 17–30 years old, with an average age of 19.5 ± 1.78 years. These results are shown in Table 1.

TABLE 1.

Demographic characteristics and the univariate analysis of academic burnout with different characteristics of participants (N = 3,051).

Variable Group N (%) Score (mean ± SD) t/F p
Gender Male 578 (18.94%) 2.93 ± 0.52 0.910 .363
Female 2,473 (81.05%) 2.91 ± 0.13
Age 15–20 2,624 (86.00%) 19.21 ± 0.75 0.510 .60
21–25 423 (13.86%) 21.19 ± 0.45
26–30 4 (0.13%) 28.75 ± 0.95
Residence City 1,216 (39.85%) 2.89 ± 0.48 −1.92 .054
Village 1835 (60.14%) 2.92 ± 0.42
Grade Freshman 1,631 (53.45%) 2.93 ± 0.44 2.31 .021
Sophomore 1,420 (46.54%) 2.89 ± 0.45
Reason Voluntary choice 1,560 (51.13%) 2.84 ± 0.47 26.74 .000
Family choice 618 (19.51%) 2.99 ± 0.42
Major adjustment 123 (4.03%) 3.01 ± 0.40
Employment needs 750 (24.58%) 2.98 ± 0.40
Like this profession Like 1,306 (42.80%) 2.80 ± 0.50 52.58 .000
Uncertain 737 (24.15%) 2.95 ± 0.38
Dislike but acceptable 965 (31.62%) 3.01 ± 0.38
Unacceptable 43 (1.40%) 3.23 ± 0.54
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Note: Gender (1:Male, 2:Female); Age (1:15–20, 2:21–25, 3:26–30); Residence (1:City, 2:Village); Grade (1:Freshman, 2:Sophomore); Reason (1:Voluntary choice, 2: Family choice, 3:Major adjustment, 4:Employment needs); Like this profession (1: Like, 2:Uncertain, 3:Dislike but acceptable, 4:Unacceptable).

3.2. Descriptive statistics and correlation analysis of self‐directed learning, self‐efficacy and academic burnout in junior college nursing students

The results of descriptive statistics and correlation analysis of self‐directed learning, self‐efficacy and academic burnout in junior college nursing students are shown in Table 2. As shown in Table 2, the mean score of the participants' overall self‐directed learning ability was 3.72 ± 0.57 (total score was five points), which indicates that the level of junior nursing college students' self‐directed learning ability is above the average level. The mean score of self‐efficacy was 2.60 ± 0.48 (total score was four points), indicating that the self‐efficacy of junior nursing college students was at a medium level. The average score of academic burnout was 2.91 ± 0.45 (total score was five points), indicating that the level of academic burnout of junior nursing college students was relatively high. In addition, this study also found that self‐directed learning ability was negatively correlated with academic burnout and positively correlated with self‐efficacy. Moreover, self‐efficacy is negatively correlated with academic burnout. In general, hypotheses 1–3 in this study had been preliminarily supported.

TABLE 2.

Descriptive statistics and correlation analysis of self‐directed learning, self‐efficacy and academic burnout in junior nursing college students (N = 3,051).

M SD Self‐directed learning Self‐efficacy Academic burnout
Self‐directed learning 3.72 0.57 1
Self‐efficacy 2.60 0.48 0.076* 1
Academic burnout 2.91 0.45 −0.270* −0.095* 1
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*

p < .01.

3.3. Univariate analysis of academic burnout of junior nursing college students with different characteristics

The results showed that there were statistically significant differences in academic burnout scores among junior nursing college students of different grades, different reasons for choosing nursing major and whether they liked nursing or not. See Table 1.

3.4. Multiple linear regression analysis of academic burnout

Multivariate linear regression analysis was used to further verify hypotheses 1 and 3. “Grade,” “reason for choosing nursing major” and “whether you like nursing major” were taken as control variables. Academic burnout was used as the dependent variable. The self‐directed learning ability and self‐efficacy were used as predictive variables, and the hierarchical regression analysis was used to establish the triple linear regression model. See Table 3 for detailed results.

TABLE 3.

Multiple linear regression analysis of academic burnout (N = 3,051).

Outcome variable Predictor Coefficient significance 95% confidence interval Fitting index
B t p Lower Upper F R 2 (adj)
Model I Grade: Sophomore −0.056 −3.147 .002 −1.642 −0.381 31.498* 0.048
Reason: Family choice −0.016 −0.410 .682 −2.068 1.353
Reason: Major adjustment 0.012 0.285 .776 −1.442 1.932
Reason: Employment needs 0.072 2.976 .003 0.443 2.156
Like this profession: Unacceptable 0.172 8.244 .000 2.405 3.906
Model II Grade: Sophomore −0.059 −3.385 .001 −1.687 −0.449 47.273* 0.083
Reason: Family choice −0.020 −0.535 .593 −2.137 1.220
Reason: Major adjustment 0.019 0.474 .635 −1.255 2.055
Reason: Employment needs 0.054 2.287 .022 0.140 1.824
Like this profession: Unacceptable 0.118 5.600 .000 1.405 2.920
Self‐directed learning −0.200 −10.954 .000 −0.094 −0.065
Model III Grade: Sophomore −0.050 −3.059 .002 −1.482 −0.324 108.332* 0.198
Reason: Family choice −0.029 −0.813 .416 −2.222 0.919
Reason: Major adjustment 0.032 0.847 .397 −0.880 2.218
Reason: Employment needs 0.053 2.400 .016 0.177 1.752
Like this profession: Unacceptable 0.095 4.806 .000 1.030 2.449
Self‐directed learning −0.225 −13.090 .000 −0.102 −0.076
Self‐efficacy −0.339 −20.840 .000 −0.552 −0.457
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Note: “Self‐directed learning” and “Self‐efficacy” were input as continuous variables. Grade (1: Freshman, 2: Sophomore); Reason (1: Voluntary choice, 2: Family choice, 3: Major adjustment, 4: Employment needs); Like this profession (1: Like, 2: Uncertain, 3: Dislike but acceptable, 4: Unacceptable).

*

p < .001.

The results showed that the variance inflation factors of the independent variables of the three models were less than 5, indicating that there were no serious multicollinearity problems between the respective variables. In addition, the results of Model I (F = 31.498, p < .01, R 2 = .048) showed that the 4.8% of the variation in academic burnout could be explained by demographic variables. “Grade,” “reason for choosing nursing major” and “whether you like nursing major” had important prediction effects on academic burnout. In Model II (F = 47.273, p < .01, R 2 = 0.083), self‐directed learning ability was added as an independent variable, and social demographic variables were controlled. All these variables explained 8.3% of the variation in academic burnout, of which only 3.5% was explained by self‐directed learning ability. In Model II, “grade,” “reason for choosing nursing major” and “whether you like nursing major” were important predictors of academic burnout. In Model III (F = 108.332, p < .01, R 2 = 0.198), self‐directed learning ability and general self‐efficacy were added as independent variables, while social demographic variables were controlled. All these variables explained 19.8% of variation in academic burnout, of which 11.5% was explained by general self‐efficacy. In Model III, “grade,” “reason for choosing nursing major,” “whether you like nursing major” and “self‐directed learning ability” were important predictors of academic burnout. Therefore, the accuracy of hypotheses 1 and 3 was verified.

3.5. The mediating effect of self‐efficacy on self‐directed learning ability and academic burnout

Structural equation modelling was used to examine the mediating effect of self‐efficacy. The path analysis of the SEM is shown in Figure 2. The standardized total effect, indirect effect and direct effect among general self‐efficacy, self‐directed learning ability and academic burnout are shown in Table 4. The results showed that the total effect of self‐directed learning ability on academic burnout was not statistically significant (β = 0.047, 95% CI [−0.010, 0.105]). Self‐directed learning ability had a statistically significant indirect effect on academic burnout through self‐efficacy (β = 0.029, 95% CI [0.006, 0.054]). However, the total effect of self‐directed learning ability on academic burnout contains zero in 95% confidence interval. Therefore, the analysis of mediation effect indicated that the influence of self‐directed learning ability on academic burnout was not mediated by self‐efficacy, and hypothesis 4 is not valid.

FIGURE 2.

FIGURE 2

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Pathway of the SEM (N = 3,051)

TABLE 4.

The effect of self‐efficacy mediators (M) in the association between the Self‐directed learning (X) and academic burnout (Y).

Model pathway Point estimate SE Bootstrap a
Bias corrected 95% CI Percentile 95% CI
Lower Upper Lower Upper
Total effect
X → Y 0.047 0.029 −0.010 0.105 −0.011 0.105
Indirect effect
X → Y 0.029 0.012 0.006 0.054 0.006 0.053
Direct effect
X → Y 0.018 0.027 −0.035 0.069 −0.034 0.069
X → M −0.070 0.028 −0.124 −0.015 −0.124 −0.014
M → Y −0.417 0.027 −0.469 −0.365 −0.469 −0.364
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Abbreviations: M, Self—efficacy; X, Self‐directed learning; Y, academic burnout.

a

Number of bootstrap samples: 5,000.

4. DISCUSSION

To our knowledge, this is the first study to consider the correlation among self‐directed learning ability, general self‐efficacy and academic burnout of junior nursing college students under the closed management mode. It is also the first study to explore whether self‐efficacy mediates the relationship between self‐directed learning ability and academic burnout. This study confirmed several important findings.

First of all, the results showed that the average score of participants' overall self‐directed learning ability was 3.72 ± 0.57 (the total score is five points), which indicates that the level of self‐directed learning ability of junior nursing college students under closed management is above the middle level. This result is consistent with the findings of Visiers‐Jiménez et al. (2022) and Yang et al. (2021), indicating that nursing students generally have strong self‐directed learning ability, and can effectively use various learning resources to manage and restrain their own behaviour (Min, 1998). Secondly, the average score of participants' self‐efficacy was 2.60 ± 0.48 points (the total score is four points), which indicates that the self‐efficacy of junior nursing college students is at a medium level. This result is similar to the evaluation results of Italian nursing students (Bulfone et al., 2021) and Iranian clinical trainee nursing students (Abdal et al., 2015), indicating that nursing students with high self‐efficacy can actively seek emotional support and effectively cope with various pressures. In addition, the average score of the participants' academic burnout was 2.91 ± 0.45 (the total score is five points), which indicates that the level of academic burnout of nursing students in colleges is high. This result is consistent with the findings of Shrestha et al. (2021) and Rahmatpour et al. (2019), indicated that academic burnout is common among medical students. In China, nursing students have a high level of academic burnout, which may be related to the high requirements of medical education, the variety and complexity of courses, and the inefficiency caused by online learning (Kong et al., 2021). Moreover, affected by the pandemic situation, the learning progress is accelerated, which leads to students' inability to digest what they have learned in a short time, and increases their physical and mental exhaustion. Finally, this study confirmed that self‐directed learning ability and self‐efficacy were related to the academic burnout of junior nursing college students, and affected the generation of academic burnout.

As mentioned above, we have discussed the following two aspects: (a) Hypotheses 1–3: the correlation among self‐directed learning ability, self‐efficacy and academic burnout; (b) Hypothesis 4: The intermediary role of self‐efficacy between self‐directed learning ability and academic burnout.

4.1. Correlation analysis

The results of this study suggested hypothesis 1 was correct. At present, there is a lack of relevant research on the relationship between self‐directed learning ability and academic burnout. However, some studies have discussed the influence of self‐directed learning ability on academic burnout (Imran et al., 2021), which is consistent with the results of this study. Students with higher self‐directed learning ability spend more time on learning tasks, have strong learning goals, and are more likely to achieve academic success. On the contrary, when the individual's self‐directed learning ability is insufficient, students simply rely on the content explained in the classroom, do not preview and review in time, and fail to develop good study habits, which will lead to a decrease in personal learning motivation and sense of accomplishment, and an increase in academic burnout.

This study also has demonstrated hypothesis 2 was correct. The results give further evidence to support the previous study (Chen et al., 2019; Hwang & Oh, 2021).When the closed management of junior nursing college students are more active in self‐directed learning ability, it is helpful to enhance their ability to solve problems, improve learning efficiency and promote self‐efficacy. According to Kuiper et al.'s self‐directed learning theory (Kuiper & Pesut, 2004), when nursing students are more willing to study independently, they will overcome unfavourable conditions, improve their self‐restraint and management ability, and are more likely to make progress in academic performance. On the contrary, because of the change of learning style brought by the pandemic, encouraging online learning and over‐reliance on electronic devices will lead to the decline of nursing students' practical operation ability and critical thinking ability. Some students still often search for answers to homework and exams on the Internet, which is not conducive to the consolidation of learning effect.

Results of this study also supported hypothesis 3. This finding was also found by Rohmani et al's study (Rohmani & Andriani, 2021). Improving students’ self‐efficacy can cultivate students’ self‐confidence and reduce their burnout level. When faced with burnout, self‐efficacy is an effective protective factor. Students with high self‐efficacy believe that they have the ability to deal with stress, are more inclined to complete challenging tasks, explore the best learning mode, and are less affected by academic burnout (Kong et al., 2021). However, students with low self‐efficacy are easily disturbed by negative emotions such as anxiety and depression when facing problems, which affects the formulation and implementation of decision‐making, and they cannot get fun from their studies, and their sense of burnout is enhanced. Nursing students who experienced academic burnout will damage their mental and physical health, lead to the loss of nursing talents and reduce the provision of the best medical service in the future. Therefore, in the future nursing education, it is necessary to explore strategies to improve self‐efficacy to reduce the academic burnout of nursing students.

4.2. Analysis of socio‐demographic variables

In this study, gender, age and place of residence showed no difference in academic burnout, which was consistent with previous studies (Wang et al., 2019). However, the grade, the reason of choosing nursing major and whether you like nursing major have certain influence on academic burnout.

Academic burnout was significantly higher among sophomore students compared with freshmen, which is consistent with the results of Zhou et al. (2022). In China, the academic system of junior college nursing is 3 years, and the last year is clinical practice. Compared with the lower‐grade students, the higher‐grade students will take on more intense learning tasks, face the pressure of examinations and clinical practice, and also face psychological pressures such as competition from their peers and being far away from their relatives. When students are in this environment for a long time, it is easy to get tired of learning and lead to academic burnout.

In addition, students who chose nursing majors based on their employment needs had a higher sense of academic burnout than students who chose nursing majors based on their own wishes. Nursing students who voluntarily choose nursing major are more inclined to develop their personal interests and hobbies, realize their self‐worth and have a strong sense of professional identity. They have specific plans and goals for pursuing nursing as a future career, which is conducive to the development of nursing career. In contrast, students who choose nursing major based on employment need have a strong purpose. The reason for choosing nursing major is that there are many jobs, and they lack a comprehensive and clear understanding of the nature of nursing major. Therefore, when learning complex professional knowledge, they have weak acceptance ability and strong academic burnout.

Finally, compared with the students who like nursing, the nursing students who cannot accept nursing have stronger academic burnout, which is consistent with Vasconcelos et.al's research (Vasconcelos et al., 2020). In China, the clinical workload of nursing is heavy, and long‐term staying up late and working overtime leads to the damage of nurses’ health quality. Coupled with the influence of social prejudice on this profession, the social support system is weak, and those students who cannot accept nursing major have no obvious sense of belonging to this profession, and they have low willingness to take part in nursing work after graduation, which is more likely to lead to academic burnout.

4.3. Mediation effect analysis

Multiple regression analysis indicated that self‐directed learning ability explained 3.5% of the variation of academic burnout, and self‐efficacy accounted for 11.5% variation of academic burnout. Meanwhile, grade, reasons for choosing nursing major and whether you like nursing major were still important predictors of dependent variables. The research indicated that social demographic variables, self‐directed learning ability and self‐efficacy played an important role in affecting academic burnout of junior nursing college students under the closed management mode.

The results of mediation effect test showed that hypothesis 4 was not valid. The results showed that self‐directed learning ability can directly affect academic burnout, but it cannot indirectly affect academic burnout through self‐efficacy. It also shows that there are other mediating variables between self‐directed learning ability and academic burnout, which influence the relationship between them. Most studies have shown that during the pandemic period, students are easily troubled by anxiety (Cao et al., 2020), which leads to academic burnout. It is necessary to further explore whether anxiety plays an important role in academic burnout.

5. RESEARCH LIMITATIONS

In addition, this study has limitations. First of all, this study is a cross‐sectional study, so it is impossible to draw a clear conclusion about the causal relationship among self‐directed learning ability, self‐efficacy and academic burnout. Second, we only analysed the closed management of junior nursing college students in one college, and the research is local, which is not enough to infer the junior nursing college students in all colleges. Besides, in most schools in China, the proportion of male and female nursing students is seriously out of balance, and the current research is biased towards female participants. Finally, the questionnaires used in this survey were all self‐report questionnaires, which may lead to sample selection bias.

6. CONCLUSION

This study found that the self‐directed learning ability, self‐efficacy and academic burnout of nursing students in closed management colleges in COVID‐19 pandemic situation were at a high level, and self‐directed learning ability and self‐efficacy were negatively correlated with academic burnout. The results of the study increase our understanding of whether self‐efficacy plays an intermediary role between self‐directed learning ability and academic burnout. Besides, academic burnout is considered as a group phenomenon, which will have a harmful effect on learning. Therefore, school administrators must pay attention to reducing the academic burnout of nursing students and take effective measures to intervene, especially for senior nursing students.

AUTHOR CONTRIBUTIONS

All authors have agreed on the final version and meet at least one of the following criteria [recommended by the ICMJE (http://www.icmje.org/recommendations/)]:

  • Substantial contributions to conception and design, acquisition of data or analysis and interpretation of data;

  • Drafting the article or revising it critically for important intellectual content.

CONFLICT OF INTEREST

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

ETHICAL APPROVAL

This research was approved by the Institutional Review Committee of the Ethics Committee of Xinxiang Medical College (the ethics number is XYLL—20220205).

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

We express our gratitude to the nursing students who participated in this study.

Chen, Z.‐h. , Ma, Y.‐y. , Feng, X.‐h. , & Lin, Y. (2023). Correlation analysis of self‐directed learning ability, self‐efficacy and academic burnout of junior nursing college students in closed management colleges. Nursing Open, 10, 2508–2518. 10.1002/nop2.1509

Public Contribution: We express our gratitude to the nursing students who participated in this study.

DATA AVAILABILITY STATEMENT

The raw data supporting the conclusions of this article will be made available by the authors, without undue reservation.

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Data Availability Statement

The raw data supporting the conclusions of this article will be made available by the authors, without undue reservation.

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