Nursing Interns’ Disgust Sensitivity, Ageism and Gerontological Nursing Career Motivation: A Network Analysis

BACKGROUND: Disgust sensitivity and ageism significantly affect nursing interns' motivation to work in gerontological nursing. However, the complex interactions between these factors remain underexplored. OBJECTIVE: This study used network analysis to explore relationships among nursing interns' disgust sensitivity, ageism and motivation to pursue a career in gerontological nursing and to identify key nodes in this network. METHODS: This study recruited 698 nursing interns. The Disgust Scale-Revised (DS-R), the Fraboni Scale of Ageism and the Gerontological Nursing Career Motivation Questionnaire were used as measures. Centrality and bridge centrality indices were used to identify central and bridge symptoms. Network stability was assessed using a case-dropping bootstrap procedure. The network comparison test was used to analyse differences in networks by gender and residence. Bayesian networks were used to investigate possible probabilistic connections among variables. RESULTS: Network analysis identified 'antilocution' (D5) as the most central node in the overall network, whereas 'expectation' (D7) had the highest bridge strength. Bayesian network analysis further revealed that 'avoidance' (D4) had the greatest probabilistic influence and was strongly linked to other nodes associated with ageism and disgust sensitivity. 'Practicality' (D9) and 'importance' (D10) also showed significant probabilistic associations within the motivation domain. The network structure proved stable and reliable, with no significant differences attributable to gender or to residence. CONCLUSIONS: This study highlights the complex relationships among disgust sensitivity, ageism and motivation for a career in gerontological nursing. It identifies 'antilocution' (D5) in ageism and 'expectation' (D7) in career motivation as central nodes, associated with negative attitudes and lower career identity. Additionally, 'avoidance' (D4) behaviour shows a probabilistic association with higher levels of disgust sensitivity and with ageism. These findings suggest targeted interventions to improve the well-being and career motivation of nursing interns in gerontological nursing.