Latent profiles of socio-emotional competence among undergraduate nursing students in online learning: a cross-sectional study

Nurses are the backbone of modern healthcare, but their work demands more than just medical knowledge. It requires a deep ability to understand and manage their own emotions while connecting with others under pressure. This set of skills, known as socio-emotional competence, includes recognizing one's own feelings, regulating reactions, understanding the perspectives of others, building relationships, and making responsible choices. For decades, educators have focused on teaching these skills in traditional classrooms where students learn face-to-face. However, the rapid shift to online learning, accelerated by global health crises, has changed the landscape. In a virtual environment, the immediate social cues of a physical classroom disappear, replaced by screens and asynchronous messages. This raises a critical question: how does learning in isolation affect the development of these essential human skills, and do all students struggle or adapt in the same way?

A team of researchers from Guangdong Pharmaceutical University set out to answer this by looking closely at undergraduate nursing students in China. They were particularly interested in whether these students fell into distinct groups based on how well they were handling the emotional and social demands of online education. Instead of simply averaging everyone's scores to find a single "typical" student, the researchers used a statistical method that acts like a prism, splitting the group into subgroups to reveal hidden patterns. They surveyed 616 nursing students, asking them about their feelings regarding online learning, their relationships with teachers and peers, and their general academic performance. The goal was to see if there were natural clusters of students who shared similar strengths and weaknesses in their socio-emotional development.

The results revealed that the student body was not a uniform block. The researchers identified three distinct types of students. The first group, making up about 10 percent of the students, was classified as the "low-competence type." These students scored the lowest across all five dimensions of socio-emotional skills, suggesting they were struggling significantly with self-management, social awareness, and relationship building in the online setting. The second group was the largest, comprising roughly 71 percent of the students, and was labeled the "moderate-competence type." These students demonstrated a balanced, average level of skill development; they were managing well but had room for growth. The third group, representing about 19 percent of the students, was the "high-competence type." These individuals scored the highest across the board, showing strong abilities in regulating their emotions and connecting with others despite the digital barrier.

The study went further to understand what pushed students into one of these three categories. The researchers found that age and the year of study played a role, with younger students and those in their later years of training showing different patterns of adaptation. Academic performance was a significant factor; students with higher grade point averages were much more likely to belong to the high-competence group. This suggests that the self-discipline required to succeed academically in an online environment often overlaps with the self-regulation needed for emotional competence. Furthermore, how students perceived the quality of their online learning mattered. Those who felt the content was engaging and the learning process was effective were more likely to be in the higher-performing groups. Perhaps most importantly, the support students felt from their peers was a powerful predictor. Students who believed their classmates were emotionally and academically supportive were far more likely to develop strong socio-emotional skills.

Interestingly, the study found that the relationship with teachers and the general experience of online learning were not the sole drivers of these differences once other factors were accounted for. This suggests that while a good teacher is valuable, the peer environment and the student's own academic confidence might be the more critical engines for emotional growth in a virtual classroom. The findings challenge the idea that online learning is a one-size-fits-all experience. Instead, they show that students arrive at and navigate these digital spaces with vastly different levels of preparedness and support. For nursing educators, this means that a single approach to teaching emotional skills will not work for everyone. The students in the low-competence group need targeted help to build their confidence and connection, while the high-competence group may benefit from opportunities to lead and refine their skills. By recognizing these distinct groups, schools can move beyond generic support and offer specific interventions that help every nursing student, regardless of their starting point, develop the human skills necessary to care for others effectively.