The effect of social support on educational outcomes

A review of the social support literature identified the theoretical framework for this prospective descriptive correlational study. The relationship of social support to educational outcomes was investigated in a convenience sample of 67 junior and 60 senior nursing students. Social support was measured by the Inventory of Socially Supportive Behavior (ISSB), indicating the frequency with which respondents were recipients of supportive actions from their total support network. Outcomes included the cumulative grade point averages of all participants and the NCLEX scores of graduating seniors. Social Support was also examined in relation to self-esteem, measured by the Coopersmith Self-Concept scale and test anxiety, measured by the Spielberger Test Anxiety Inventory. Hypotheses tested were: (1) There is a positive relationship between social support and both cumulative grade point average and NCLEX scores. (2) There is a positive relationship between social support and self-esteem. (3) Social support will have greater influence on outcomes under conditions of stress, defined as high test anxiety. Hypotheses 1 and 3 were not supported. Hypothesis 2 was supported at the .05 significance level, using a Pearson Correlation Coefficient. Additional information included a significant inverse correlation for test anxiety and both grade point average (p = .01) and NCLEX results (p = .05). Implications for educational experiences and future research are discussed.