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The mediating effect of academic delay of gratification on the relationship between future time perspective and learning engagement among nursing students: A multi-center cross-sectional study

Year: 2026

Type: article

Abstract: BACKGROUND: Learning engagement served as a primary determinant of learning outcomes, but nursing students’ engagement in learning often remains unimpressive due to intensive academic pressures. Future time perspective, academic delay of gratification, and learning engagement are intimately interconnected, but few studies have reported their respective levels and relationships among nursing students.This study aimed to explore the mediating role of future time perspective in the relationship between academic delay of gratification and learning engagement among nursing students. METHODS: This study was conducted among 1250 full-time nursing students from four nursing schools in Sichuan Province, China. Demographic characteristics, future time perspective, academic delay of gratification, and learning engagement of nursing students were assessed using self-reported questionnaires. Pearson correlation analyses, multiple regression, and mediation models were employed to explore the relationship of the main variables. RESULTS: The scores of future time perspective, academic delay of gratification, and learning engagement among nursing students were 55.01 ± 9.42, 31.74 ± 6.37, and 80.27 ± 18.19, respectively, demonstrating significant positive correlations with each other (P < 0.001). Furthermore, the statistical analysis indicated that academic delay of gratification accounted for a significant portion of the association between future time perspective and learning engagement (β = 0.139, p < 0.001), explaining 26.8% of the total variance in this relationship. CONCLUSION: Future time perspective was not only directly associated with learning engagement, but the association was also explained in part by academic delay of gratification in our theoretical model. Based on the theoretical model supported by this study, nursing educators might explore the value of targeted educational programs designed to cultivate future time perspective and foster the ability to delay gratification, as a possible avenue to promote active learning engagement among students.

Source: BMC Medical Education

DOI: 10.1186/s12909-026-08807-6