This study aimed to investigate the effects of intergroup contact training on the levels of aging stereotypes, intergroup anxiety, and willingness to engage in geriatric nursing work among undergraduate nursing students.
This research was designed as a pre-test-post-test randomized controlled experimental study. Nursing students from a university in Hangzhou, China served as the research subjects, who were randomly assigned to the experimental or control group. The control group received training in the regular course and was given compensatory intervention after the experiment, while the experimental group received intergroup contact training (the regular course combined with intergroup contact content). Such training was carried out in the forms of both individual and group interventions for a duration of 12 weeks. The levels of aging stereotypes, intergroup anxiety, and the willingness to engage in geriatric nursing among the nursing students were investigated before and after the training. Number, percentage, mean, standard deviation, Shapiro-Wilk, T-test, Wilcoxon signed ranks tests, and Mann-Whitney U tests were used to analyze the data.
Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Purpose
HEALTH_SERVICES_RESEARCH
Masking
DOUBLE
Enrollment
126
The intervention program uses direct contact and four types of indirect contact as the intervention strategy and general framework, and is divided into three main steps, assessing and reflecting on aging stereotypes, carrying out indirect and direct contact, and evaluating the effectiveness of the intervention. The time period is 12 weeks, with the interventionists comprising the researcher and nursing students. The forms of the intervention include holding mini-lectures, organizing participation in voluntary activities, and nostalgia interviews.
The specific process is to sign in the classroom, review the knowledge of the previous class by asking questions, introduce the content of the new class, the teacher explains the knowledge points according to the teaching objectives and teaching content, and finally assigns the post-class homework of the course content. At the end of the experiment, the control group was given compensatory intervention.
School of Nursing, Hangzhou Normal University
Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China
The implicit effect value (D)
The implicit effect value were measured by the Single-Category Implicit Association Test (SC- IAT), a time-limited word categorization task, using the E-Prime procedure. The SC-IAT program consists of four blocks: Blocks I and III are practice blocks, while Blocks II and IV are formal tests. The data analyzed were derived from Blocks II and IV. Blocks I and II feature incompatible tasks with positive words for the elderly on the left and negative words on the right. Blocks III and IV are compatible tasks, with positive words on the right and elderly concept words and negative words on the left. The implicit effect value (D) was calculated by subtracting the mean reaction time of the compatible task from that of the incompatible task, then dividing by the standard deviation of correct reaction times. A D value of 0 indicates a neutral implicit aging stereotype, while a value less than 0 suggests a negtive stereotype.
Time frame: Baseline and Month 3
Geriatric Nursing Willingness Scale
The Geriatric Nursing Willingness Scale was used to measure the intention to engage in geriatric nursing. The scale consists of 21 entries divided into four main sections: behavioral attitudes, subjective norms, perceived behavioral control, and behavioral intentions. It was scored on a 5-point Likert scale, with positive entries scoring 10, 8, 6, 4, and 2 in that order, and the reverse for negative entries. The Cronbach' α coefficient in this study was 0.787.
Time frame: Baseline and Month 3
Intergroup Anxiety Scale (IAS)
The Intergroup Anxiety Scale was used to measure intergroup anxiety. The scale was developed by Stephan and consists of 10 entries on a 7-point Likert scale. Entries 5 to 7 are reverse scored, with lower scores indicating higher levels of intergroup anxiety. The scale is widely applied internationally, with a Cronbach' α coefficient of 0.808 in this study.
Time frame: Baseline and Month 3
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