Association between achievement motivation and anxiety symptoms among college students

Emotional problems are prevalent among college students, and many experience low levels of achievement motivation. This study investigated the correlation between achievement motivation and anxiety symptoms among medical students from Jining Medical University in Jining, China.

In September 2025, a cross-sectional study was performed among 3,173 college students in Jining City. Data were collected through electronic questionnaires consisting of three core components: sociodemographic characteristics, the Achievement Motivation Scale, and the 7-item Generalized anxiety symptoms Scale (GAD-7). Statistical analyses were conducted using SPSS 27.0 software, including univariate analysis, multiple logistic regression analysis and correlation analysis, to identify factors associated with anxiety symptoms and achievement motivation, as well as to verify the correlation between these two variables.

A total of 3,173 questionnaires were distributed, and 2,827 valid questionnaires were collected, with an effective response rate of 89.09%; among the 2,827 college students surveyed, 28.76% reported mild anxiety symptoms, 4.89% reported moderate symptoms, and 1.31% reported severe symptoms. Achievement motivation analysis revealed that 59.43% of the participants exhibited high levels, while 35.58% showed low levels. Multivariate logistic regression analysis revealed that the severity of anxiety was significantly associated with being left behind in childhood, family income, parental health status, chronic diseases (respiratory/digestive systems), satisfaction with major, and academic planning (p < 0.05), but not with age, height, weight, gender, or BMI. The severe anxiety group exhibited more pronounced health risk behaviors and academic adaptation issues, necessitating targeted interventions. Related research has shown that anxiety severity was significantly positively correlated with failure avoidance motivation, and negatively correlated with success pursuit motivation.

Our study reveals that anxiety symptoms are significantly associated with individual patterns of achievement motivation. Achievement motivation is closely correlated with anxiety symptoms among college students: fear of failure is linked to higher anxiety levels, while pursuit of success is related to lower anxiety levels. These findings suggest that motivational orientation adjustments may be an important target in mental health interventions, though causal direction remains to be established. To promote college students' mental health, schools should carry out adaptive motivation training programs to help students shift from a "failure-avoidance" motivational orientation toward a "success-pursuit" orientation. Meanwhile, targeted academic planning guidance should be integrated into mental health intervention, as academic planning showed a protective role against severe anxiety in the current study. While simultaneously strengthening psychological support and academic planning guidance for students with backgrounds such as left-behind experiences or family financial difficulties.