Background Nursing students face significant psychological challenges, with general self‐efficacy (GSE) serving as a critical protective factor. Although family socioeconomic status (SES) and family relationship quality (FRQ) have been linked to GSE, their underlying pathways and the moderating role of institution type (vocational vs. undergraduate colleges) remain unclear. This study aimed to examine the association between SES and GSE among nursing students, focusing on FRQ as a mediator and institution type as a moderator. Methods A cross‐sectional survey of 1461 nursing students from two Chinese medical institutions was conducted. SES was derived from five socioeconomic indicators using principal component analysis. FRQ was constructed as a latent variable from three observed items using confirmatory factor analysis. GSE was measured using the General Self‐Efficacy Scale. Mediation and moderated mediation analyses were performed using PROCESS macros. Results SES was positively associated with GSE ( B = 0.313, p = 0.004). FRQ partially mediated the relationship between SES and GSE in the total sample ( β = 0.060, 95% CI 0.009, 0.115). However, this mediation was only significant among undergraduates ( β = 0.118, 95% CI 0.043, 0.201) and not among vocational students ( β = −0.005, 95% CI −0.060, 0.051). Institution type moderated both the direct effect of SES on GSE and the indirect effect via FRQ, with stronger associations among undergraduate students. Specifically, simple slope test showed that SES was associated with GSE among undergraduates ( β = 0.455, 95% CI 0.191, 0.720) but not among vocational students ( β = 0.021, 95% CI −0.324, 0.367). Conclusions Family SES was positively associated with nursing students’ GSE directly and indirectly via FRQ, and these associations were stronger among undergraduate than among vocational students. These findings suggest that considering both family resources and educational context may be useful when designing targeted interventions to foster GSE among nursing students.
Wang et al. (Thu,) studied this question.