ABSTRACT
Objective To investigate the status of social adjustment in undergraduate nursing students, and to explore the influence of interpersonal relations and social support on social adjustment. Methods A total of 485 undergraduate nursing students in the School of Nursing of University of South China were investigated by using the Comprehensive Diagnostic Scale for Interpersonal Relations, Social Support Rating Scale and Chinese College Students' Adaptability Scale with stratified cluster sampling method. Results The total scores of social adjustment of undergraduate nursing students were (195.37 ± 26.63) points. The total scores of interpersonal relations were (9.18 ± 5.81) points. The total scores of social support were (36.72 ± 5.39) points. Social support and social adjustment were positively correlated (r=0.274, P<0.01), but interpersonal relations and social adjustment were negatively correlated (r=-0.490, P<0.01). The main influencing factors of social adjustment in a descending order included interpersonal dating(β=-0.390, P=0.000), interpersonal conversation(β=-0.146, P =0.024) and subjective support(β=0.133, P =0.005). Conclusions The scores of the social adjustment, social support and interpersonal relations of undergraduate nursing students are all in the middle level. The main influencing factors of social adjustment include interpersonal dating, interpersonal conversation and subjective support, particulally interpersonal dating. Educators can improve their social adjustment through improving interpersonal dating, interpersonal conversation and subjective support .