Psychological Factors Associated with Learning in Bioscience Courses Among Undergraduate Nursing Students

Background/Objectives: Undergraduate nursing students consider bioscience courses essential to their education and clinical practice, yet they often find them challenging. This study explored the associations among achievement goal orientations, perceived stress, and self-esteem to examine factors associated with bioscience learning in nursing education. Methods: A quantitative cross-sectional study was conducted with undergraduate nursing students enrolled in the first-year courses "Biology-Clinical Biochemistry" and "Genetics". Data were gathered using the Perceived Stress Scale-14 (PSS14); the Achievement Goal Questionnaire-Revised (AGQ-R), divided into four subscales, each representing a goal type (mastery-approach or AGQ MA, mastery-avoidance or AGQ MAV, performance-approach or AGQ PA, performance-avoidance or AGQ PAV); and the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (RSES). Univariate and multiple regression analyses were conducted using SPSS v26.0, with significance set at p < 0.05. Results: Perceived stress was negatively associated with self-esteem in both Biology-Clinical Biochemistry and Genetics (p < 0.001). The assessment of potential links between quantitative variables and the study topic using univariate analysis showed an association of course category with the PSS14 score (p = 0.008). This finding remained significant in the regression analysis (p = 0.004), which also identified an effect of gender on the same scale (p = 0.029). Multiple regression further revealed associations between AGQ MA and the subject of study (p = 0.047), AGQ MAV and gender (p = 0.001), AGQ PAV and gender (p = 0.016), and RSES Total and type of secondary education (p = 0.007). Conclusions: Psychological factors interact dynamically with the demands of bioscience education within tertiary nursing curricula, varying according to demographic and academic traits.