A psychometrically validated instrument assessing how nursing students seek academic support — across three distinct behavioral dimensions.
Academic help-seeking is a critical skill that directly influences learning outcomes, professional competence, and overall academic success in nursing education. It involves recognizing when support is needed, knowing where and how to obtain assistance, and using available resources effectively. For nursing students, who must balance theoretical learning with clinical practice, developing effective help-seeking behaviors is essential for mastering complex concepts and ensuring patient safety in practice.
Despite its recognized importance, tools specifically designed to assess academic help-seeking behaviors in nursing education are scarce. Many existing measures were created for general education or other disciplines and may not fully capture the unique challenges nursing students face, such as time constraints, high-stakes clinical environments, and the need for professional skill development alongside academic knowledge.
The Academic Help-Seeking Behavior Questionnaire for Nursing Students (AHSBQ-NS) was created to address this gap. This 19-item questionnaire provides a context-specific, psychometrically validated instrument to assess how nursing students seek academic support.
The AHSBQ-NS was adapted from the Computer Science Help-Seeking Scales (CSHS) developed by Pajares et al. (2004) and refined for nursing education using structural equation modeling, ensuring reliability and validity in this specific context.
This questionnaire is freely available for self-assessment and can be adapted for other educational or research contexts without needing permission from the authors, provided proper acknowledgment is given. Responses are confidential, and there are no right or wrong answers, encouraging honest self-reflection.
Source (Published article): Ibrahim, M. M., Monne, R., Tawiah, B. C., Adam, H., Abukari, M. S., Salifu, R., Sisala, I. M., & Wuni, A. (2026). Validity and Reliability Study of a Scale to Measure Academic Help-seeking Behaviors Among Nursing Students in Ghana. Journal of Education and Research in Nursing, 23(1), 1–10. DOI Link | Other Link
Prefers conceptual understanding over direct answers.
Prefers direct answers and solutions.
Reluctance to seek assistance from others.
For each statement below, select the number that best represents your typical academic behavior as a nursing student, using the scale provided.
Items 1–3 · Prefers conceptual understanding over direct answers
| # | Statement | Your Rating (1 = Strongly False → 8 = Strongly True) |
|---|
Items 4–12 · Prefers direct answers and solutions
| # | Statement | Your Rating (1 = Strongly False → 8 = Strongly True) |
|---|
Items 13–19 · Reluctance to seek assistance
| # | Statement | Your Rating (1 = Strongly False → 8 = Strongly True) |
|---|
The subscale with the highest mean score indicates your predominant help-seeking style. Instrumental learners prefer conceptual understanding and explanation over direct answers. Executive learners prioritize getting direct answers and having work completed for them. Avoidance indicates hesitance or reluctance to seek help from others. Higher scores (closer to 8) reflect stronger tendencies in each dimension. No style is inherently better — awareness of your style can help you optimize how you seek academic support.