Cognitive Anxiety and Attitude towards Professional Help among Student Nurses in A Private College in Iloilo City, Philippines

Abstract

Background: Earlier studies examined cognitive anxiety and attitudes toward seeking professional psychological help separately Aims: To determine the relationship between cognitive anxiety and attitudes toward professional psychological support among student nurses in a private college in Iloilo City. Study Design: Descriptive correlational design. Place and Duration of Study: Private college of nursing in Iloilo City, Philippines, second semester, AY 2025 to 2026. Methodology: A total of 324 nursing students participated through stratified random sampling. Tools used were the Cognitive Test Anxiety Scale and Attitudes Toward Seeking Professional Psychological Help Scale Short Form. The Kolmogorov Smirnov test checked normality. Mann Whitney U and Kruskal Wallis tests examined group differences. Spearman rho tested relationships. Ethical clearance was secured. Results: Findings revealed that nursing students experienced noticeable levels of cognitive test anxiety, with worry, fear of failure, and post-test self-doubt emerging as the most prominent features. Attitudes toward professional psychological help were generally negative, although female students demonstrated a more positive disposition than males. Differences in cognitive anxiety were observed across year levels, with first-year students reporting the highest levels of anxiety, while attitudes toward professional help remained largely consistent across academic levels. The study found no significant relationship between cognitive test anxiety and help-seeking attitudes, indicating that gender differences had a stronger influence on professional support-seeking than anxiety levels. Conclusion: Student nurses generally experience noticeable cognitive anxiety. Lower-year students experience higher levels of anxiety compared to their senior counterparts. Most respondents held negative attitudes toward professional psychological help, although female students demonstrated more positive attitudes than male students. The study found no significant relationship between cognitive test anxiety and help-seeking attitudes, indicating that sex differences had a stronger influence on attitudes toward seeking professional support than anxiety levels alone. Recommendations: Academic support programs and accessible mental health services are recommended to reduce cognitive anxiety and improve help-seeking behavior among nursing students. Future studies should include multiple institutions and explore factors such as self-efficacy and coping skills.