The Relationship Between Personality Traits and Clinical Decision-Making, Anxiety and Stress Among Intern Nursing Students During COVID-19: A Cross-Sectional Study

Figures & data

Table 1 Demographic Data of the Respondents (N=181)

Variables	Number	N (%)
Gender
Male	16	8.8%
Female	165	91.1%
Age
<25 (17–24)	160	88.4%
≥25 (25–33)	21	11.6%
Education
Junior college	73	40.3%
Undergraduate	55	30.4%
Graduate student	53	29.3%
Marital Status
Yes	6	3.3%
No	175	96.7%

Table 2 Means, Standard Deviations, and Intercorrelations of Study Variables (N=181)

	Mean	Std. Deviation	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8
1. BFI-44-Ext	26.72	5.11	1
2. BFI-44-Agr	34.24	4.13	0.398**	1
3. BFI-44-Con	31.29	4.59	0.492**	0.504**	1
4. 4BFI-44-Neu	22.78	4.28	−0.593**	−0.346**	−0.565**	1
5. 5BFI-44-Ope	33.69	4.32	0.529**	0.390**	0.423**	−0.361**	1
6. CDMNS	127.94	15.44	0.224**	0.190*	0.194**	−0.312**	0.346**	1
7. SAS	43.61	10.87	−0.332**	−0.484**	−0.442**	0.429**	−0.217**	−0.168*	1
8. PSS-14	40.29	4.79	−0.464**	−0.280**	−0.417**	0.562**	−0.142	−0.148*	0.485**	1

Notes: *p < 0.05; **p < 0.01.

Abbreviations: BFI-44-Ext, the Big Five Inventory-44-Extraversion; BFI-44-Agr, the Big Five Inventory-44-Agreeableness; BFI-44-Con, the Big Five Inventory-44-Conscientiousness; BFI-44-Neu, the Big Five Inventory-44-Neuroticism; BFI-44-Ope, the Big Five Inventory-44-Openness; SAS, the Self-Rating Anxiety Scale; PSS-14, the Perceived Stress Scale 14; CDMNS, the Clinical Decision-Making in Nursing Scale.

Table 3 Distribution of Intern Nursing Students’ Levels of SAS, PSS-14, CDMNS and Personality Traits According to Personal Characteristics (N=181)

Variables	BFI-44-Ext	BFI-44-Agr	BFI-44-Con	BFI-44-Neu	BFI-44-Ope	CDMNS	SAS	PSS-14
	Means ± SDs	Means ± SDs	Means ± SDs	Means ± SDs	Means ± SDs	Means ± SDs	Means ± SDs	Means ± SDs
Gender
Female	26.7 ± 5.01	34.36 ± 4.05	31.44 ± 4.28	22.84 ± 4.03	33.74 ± 4.16	128.05 ± 15.02	43.54 ± 10.42	40.27 ± 4.76
Male	26.94 ± 6.17	32.94 ± 4.92	29.75 ± 7.09	22.19 ± 6.47	33.13 ± 5.88	126.88 ± 19.82	44.21± 15.14	40.5 ± 5.33
t	−0.175	1.32	0.934	0.397	0.542	0.29	−0.236	−0.18
P-value	0.861	0.188	0.364	0.696	0.589	0.772	0.814	0.857
Age
≥25 (25–33)	26.48 ± 4.99	34.19 ± 3.20	30.24 ± 4.31	22.38 ± 4.13	33.29 ± 4.46	127.05 ± 11.68	46.55 ± 10.69	39.86 ± 4.53
<25 (17–24)	26.76 ± 5.13	34.24 ± 4.25	31.43 ± 4.63	22.84 ± 4.31	33.74 ± 4.32	128.06 ± 15.89	43.22 ± 10.86	40.35 ± 4.84
t	−0.236	−0.055	−1.113	−0.458	−0.449	−0.283	1.323	−0.442
P-value	0.814	0.956	0.267	0.647	0.654	0.778	0.188	0.659
Education
Junior college	27.34 ± 5.33	34.97 ± 4.26	31.81 ± 4.72	22.49 ± 4.34	34.51 ± 4.01	128.63 ± 16.93	42.28 ± 10.40	40.37 ± 4.56
Undergraduate	25.62 ± 5.53	33.38 ± 4.22	30.62 ± 5.06	23.36 ± 4.54	33.25 ± 4.96	126.93 ± 16.85	44.54 ± 11.86	41.09 ± 5.59
Graduate student	27.02 ± 4.16	34.11 ± 3.74	31.26 ± 3.85	22.58 ± 3.93	33 ± 3.92	128.06 ± 11.46	44.46 ± 10.42	39.36 ± 4.12
F	1.935	2.392	1.053	0.727	2.289	0.191	0.913	1.791
P-value	0.147	0.094	0.351	0.485	0.104	0.826	0.403	0.170
Marital Status
No	26.69 ± 5.09	34.23 ± 4.16	31.23 ± 4.58	22.79 ± 4.21	33.67 ± 4.35	127.83 ± 15.48	43.58 ± 10.82	40.3 ± 4.76
Yes	27.83 ± 5.78	34.33 ± 3.61	33 ± 5.22	22.67 ± 6.62	34.17 ± 3.87	131.17 ± 15.13	44.16 ± 13.29	40 ± 6.29
t	−0.54	−0.058	−0.928	0.068	−0.277	−0.519	−0.128	0.152
P-value	0.59	0.954	0.355	0.946	0.782	0.605	0.898	0.88

Note: t, Student’s t-test; F, one-way ANOVA.

Abbreviations: BFI-44-Ext, the Big Five Inventory-44-Extraversion; BFI-44-Agr, the Big Five Inventory-44-Agreeableness; BFI-44-Con, the Big Five Inventory-44-Conscientiousness; BFI-44-Neu, the Big Five Inventory-44-Neuroticism; BFI-44-Ope, the Big Five Inventory-44-Openness; SAS, the Self-Rating Anxiety Scale; PSS-14, the Perceived Stress Scale 14; CDMNS, the Clinical Decision-Making in Nursing Scale.

Table 4 Regression Analysis (the Impact of Personality Traits on PSS-14) (N = 181)

Predictor Variables	β	SE	Beta	t-value	P-value	95% Confidence Interval		VIF
						Lower	Upper
(Constant)	35.416	6.643		5.331	0	22.302	48.529
Education (Undergraduate)	−0.137	0.778	−0.013	−0.176	0.86	−1.674	1.399	1.555
Education (Graduate student)	−1.043	1.093	−0.099	−0.955	0.341	−3.2	1.114	3
Gender (male)	0.227	1.048	0.013	0.217	0.829	−1.841	2.295	1.073
Marital Status (Yes)	0.298	1.703	0.011	0.175	0.861	−3.063	3.658	1.127
Age	0.027	0.217	0.012	0.125	0.901	−0.402	0.456	2.618
BFI-44-Ext	−0.234	0.079	−0.249**	−2.961	0.004	−0.39	−0.078	1.96
BFI-44-Agr	−0.072	0.085	−0.062	−0.845	0.4	−0.239	0.096	1.482
BFI-44-Con	−0.133	0.086	−0.128	−1.551	0.123	−0.303	0.036	1.883
BFI-44-Neu	0.438	0.091	0.391***	4.797	0	0.258	0.619	1.848
BFI-44-Ope	0.222	0.083	0.2**	2.691	0.008	0.059	0.385	1.536

Notes: PSS-14 was the dependent variable. β is the unstandardized coefficient, SE is the standard error, and Beta is the standardized coefficient. VIF is variance inflation factor. R² = 0.388; adjusted R² = 0.352; Durbin-Watson is 2.081. *p < 0.05; **p < 0.01; ***p < 0.001.

Abbreviations: BFI-44-Ext, the Big Five Inventory-44-Extraversion; BFI-44-Agr, the Big Five Inventory-44-Agreeableness; BFI-44-Con, the Big Five Inventory-44-Conscientiousness; BFI-44-Neu, the Big Five Inventory-44-Neuroticism; BFI-44-Ope, the Big Five Inventory-44-Openness; PSS-14, the Perceived Stress Scale 14.

Table 5 Regression Analysis (the Impact of Personality Traits on SAS) (N = 181)

Predictor Variables	β	SE	Beta	t-value	P-value	95% Confidence Interval		VIF
						Lower	Upper
(Constant)	58.944	15.688		3.757	0	27.975	89.913
Education (Undergraduate)	−0.491	1.838	−0.021	−0.267	0.79	−4.119	3.137	1.555
Education (Graduate student)	0.01	2.581	0	0.004	0.997	−5.084	5.105	3
Gender (male)	−0.448	2.474	−0.012	−0.181	0.857	−5.332	4.437	1.073
Marital Status (Yes)	0.313	4.021	0.005	0.078	0.938	−7.624	8.25	1.127
Age	0.36	0.513	0.071	0.703	0.483	−0.652	1.373	2.618
BFI-44-Ext	−0.05	0.186	−0.024	−0.269	0.789	−0.418	0.318	1.96
BFI-44-Agr	−0.93	0.2	−0.354***	−4.647	0	−1.325	−0.535	1.482
BFI-44-Con	−0.368	0.203	−0.156	−1.813	0.072	−0.769	0.033	1.883
BFI-44-Neu	0.602	0.216	0.237**	2.788	0.006	0.176	1.028	1.848
BFI-44-Ope	0.234	0.195	0.093	1.2	0.232	−0.151	0.618	1.536

Notes: SAS was the dependent variable. β is the unstandardized coefficient, SE is the standard error, and Beta is the standardized coefficient. VIF is variance inflation factor. R² = 0.334; adjusted R² = 0.295; Durbin-Watson is 2.012. *p < 0.05; **p < 0.01; ***p < 0.001.

Abbreviations: BFI-44-Ext, the Big Five Inventory-44-Extraversion; BFI-44-Agr, the Big Five Inventory-44-Agreeableness; BFI-44-Con, the Big Five Inventory-44-Conscientiousness; BFI-44-Neu, the Big Five Inventory-44-Neuroticism; BFI-44-Ope, the Big Five Inventory-44-Openness; SAS, the Self-Rating Anxiety Scale.

Table 6 Regression Analysis (the Impact of Personality Traits on CDMNS) (N = 181)

Predictor Variables	β	SE	Beta	t-value	P-value	95% Confidence Interval		VIF
						Lower	Upper
(Constant)	143.242	24.789		5.778	0	94.308	192.176
Education (Undergraduate)	1.364	2.904	0.041	0.47	0.639	−4.369	7.097	1.555
Education (Graduate student)	4.509	4.078	0.133	1.106	0.27	−3.541	12.558	3
Gender (male)	−1.434	3.91	−0.026	−0.367	0.714	−9.152	6.283	1.073
Marital Status (Yes)	5.459	6.353	0.063	0.859	0.391	−7.082	18	1.127
Age	−0.96	0.811	−0.133	−1.184	0.238	−2.56	0.64	2.618
BFI-44-Ext	−0.265	0.295	−0.088	−0.899	0.37	−0.846	0.317	1.96
BFI-44-Agr	0.222	0.316	0.059	0.7	0.485	−0.403	0.846	1.482
BFI-44-Con	−0.306	0.321	−0.091	−0.954	0.341	−0.939	0.327	1.883
BFI-44-Neu	−1.015	0.341	−0.282**	−2.976	0.003	−1.688	−0.342	1.848
BFI-44-Ope	1.077	0.308	0.302***	3.498	0.001	0.469	1.685	1.536

Notes: CDMNS was the dependent variable. β is the unstandardized coefficient, SE is the standard error, and Beta is the standardized coefficient. VIF is variance inflation factor. R² = 0.177; adjusted R² = 0.128; Durbin-Watson is 1.915. *p < 0.05; **p < 0.01; ***p < 0.001.

Abbreviations: BFI-44-Ext, the Big Five Inventory-44-Extraversion; BFI-44-Agr, the Big Five Inventory-44-Agreeableness; BFI-44-Con, the Big Five Inventory-44-Conscientiousness; BFI-44-Neu, the Big Five Inventory-44-Neuroticism; BFI-44-Ope, the Big Five Inventory-44-Openness; CDMNS, the Clinical Decision-Making in Nursing Scale.

Figure 1 The Relationship Between the Respective Variables and the Dependent Variable.

Table 7 The Levels of Participants’ Anxiety and Stress (N=181)

PSS-14		SAS
Levels	Number (%)	Levels	Number (%)
Low stress levels (14–28)	2 (1.1%)	Normal (<50)	130 (71.8%)
Moderate stress level (29–42)	141 (77.9%)	Mild anxiety (50–60)	41 (22.7%)
Higher stress levels (43–56)	37 (20.4%)	Moderate anxiety (61–70)	7 (3.9%)
Very high stress levels (57–70)	1 (0.6%)	Severe anxiety (>70)	3 (1.6%)

Abbreviations: SAS, the Self-Rating Anxiety Scale; PSS-14, the Perceived Stress Scale 14.