Anxiety in the Learning Environment

Abstract

Anxiety is defined by excessive worry over a prolonged period of time. Some common symptoms of anxiety include restlessness, fatigue, difficulty concentrating, muscle tension, and sleep disturbance (American Psychiatric Association, 2013). Many post-secondary students experience anxiety, which can be either a helpful or harmful stimulus. The literature suggests that there are many specific factors within the learning environment that can contribute to student anxiety, but the general topic requires further investigation.

This project uses a grounded theory approach with mixed-methodology to better understand factors that affect student anxiety within the learning environment. Quantitative data were collected using the Hospital Anxiety and Depression scale (HADS) to describe our sample population (Bjelland, Dahl, Haug, Neckelmann, 2002). Qualitative data were collected through virtual focus groups. Participants were undergraduate nursing students at MacEwan University (N anticipated = 34). Data collection occurred in three phases, focusing on model development and validation. Our findings contributed to creating a conceptual framework to illustrate the impact of nursing student anxiety within the learning environment.

Several themes have emerged over the first two phases of the project. Themes specific to the context of psychology were self-efficacy, self-worth and self-esteem. Some critical elements that impact student anxiety were related to instructor attributes and behaviour, peer relationships, social determinants of health, and COVID-19. Specific to the theme of COVID-19 were feelings of being overwhelmed, isolation, and decreased motivation. Participants also identified that the boundaries that previously maintained a distinction between school, home, and work had been blurred.

This project has been a wonderful partnership looking at the same complex phenomena from a psychology and nursing lens.

References:

Bjelland,, I., Dahl, A., Haug T., Neckelmann, D. (2002). The validity of the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale an updated literature review. Journal of Psychosomatic Research, 52(2),69-77. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0022-3999(01)00296-3

American Psychiatric Association. (2013). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (5th ed.). https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.books.9780890425596

Department: Psychology

Faculty Mentors: Dr. Lisa McKendrick-Calder, Dr. Cheryl Pollard, Tanya Heuver, Christine Shumka