The academic performance of university or college students is efficiently measured using grade point average: Nursing Assignment, JCU, Singapore

The academic performance of university or college students is efficiently measured using grade point average (GPA), which also evaluates their academic goals and educational quality. In Japan, the number of universities (n=795) and the percentage of students who attend university (54.4%) are increasing each year. Universities or colleges that include nursing faculties account for one-third of all the universities and colleges in Japan. Therefore, the academic performance of nursing students and the quality of education in nursing colleges should be constantly improved.

Many studies have reported related factors, such as lifestyle, which impact the academic performance of university students. Additionally, previous studies have focused on psychological factors such as self-efficacy, personality, psychological distress, learning, and motivation strategies. Medical science students, including nursing students, must learn and retain a massive amount of information, thereby experiencing higher levels of academic stress. Therefore, they must possess the resilience to achieve their required or desired academic goals.

Resilience is defined as the ability of an individual to bounce back or recover from stress. Although several studies have examined the association between resilience and academic performance among medical science students, the results were inconsistent. For example, Beauvais et al. reported that the association between resilience and academic performance was not observed in undergraduate nursing students but was observed in graduate nursing
students. Conversely, Montas et al. reported that dental students with high resilience or high grit achieved higher GPAs.

The differences in results may stem from the characteristics of each department of a university, country, culture, or educational system. Furthermore, the components and concepts of resilience are not uniform, and previous studies have not focused on the components of resilience associated with academic performance. Hirano et al. have developed the Bidimensional Resilience Scale (BRS), which provides a more multifaceted view of resilience and includes innate factors and acquired factors. Therefore, it is necessary to confirm which components of resilience are related to academic performance using a scale such as the BRS.

To the best of our knowledge, however, no study has examined which components of resilience are associated with academic performance among nursing students in Japan. The present study aimed to investigate the components of resilience associated with academic performance among Japanese nursing students using the BRS.