The Relationships among Social Skills, Anxiety and Academic Performance of Nursing Students of Yasuj University of Medical Sciences in 2018

Academic performance and anxiety at university are among the issues that have caught community leaders and researchers’ attention. It has always been important to consider what factors affect students’ academic achievement and success, or how much is the contribution of each factor. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to investigate the relationships among social skills, anxiety and academic performance of nursing students of Yasuj University of Medical Sciences in 2018.

This research is a descriptive-correlational regression study. The population of this study included all nursing students of Yasuj University of Medical Sciences in 2018. The sampling method in this study was simple random sampling during which two questionnaires, Matson Social Skills Questionnaire (1976) and Sheenan Anxiety Inventory (1989), were distributed among 200 people. The reliability of these questionnaires calculated by Cronbach’s alpha coefficient was 0.86 and 0.70, respectively. Data were analyzed using Pearson correlation matrix and stepwise regression model by SPSS software.

The analysis of research findings indicated that there was a positive and significant relationship between social skill sub-components (appropriate social skill, superiority, peer relationship) and academic performance (P <0.01). Also, there was a significantly negative relationship between the components of nonsocial behavior, aggression, and academic performance (P <0.001). Also, among social skills, appropriate social skills, peer relationship and non-social behavior with values (-0.32, -0.38 and β = -0.60) were able to significantly predict anxiety changes. While positive social skills decrease students’ anxiety, negative social skills increase it.

Generally, the results of the present study are in relation to the studies concerning the relationships among social skills, anxiety and academic performance of students and it can be said that positive social skills can significantly increase students’ academic performance. Also, positive social skills decrease students’ anxiety while negative social skills increase students’ anxiety. Therefore, it is recommended that administrators and university professors make the necessary plans to enhance social skills and students’ academic performance and reduce their anxiety.