The Prevalence and Effects of Test Anxiety in School Children

By Angus S. McDonald. DECP Debate, 2001

525 citations recorded by the source corpus.

This paper reviews the literature on the prevalence and effects of test anxiety on children in compulsory education. Tests are identified as a major source of concern to many children, and the overall prevalence of test anxiety appears to be increasing, possibly due to increased testing in schools and pressures associated with this. Studies of children are generally in accordance with the wider literature, namely that test anxiety impairs test performance, although this is moderated by individual differences and the testing environment. Methodological problems in the literature are discussed and suggestions for further research made.

Subfields: Experimental and Cognitive Psychology, Social Psychology

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/075bb3487170a74b40acfffa9f65d50075737360

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In Experimental and Cognitive Psychology

In Social Psychology

Citations in the corpus

Deconstructing test anxiety (2008, background): “When conceptualised as a trait, test anxiety exists on a continuum (McDonald 2001) where high scores are associated with impaired assessment performance.”
State anxiety and working memory in children: A test of processing efficiency theory (2005, background): “Teachers have expressed unease concerning the impact of heightened anxiety associated with increased testing in the school environment (McDonald, 2001).”
Examination of the Relationships between Fifth Graders' Self-Regulated Learning Strategies, Motivational Beliefs, Attitudes, and Achievement. (2013, background): “Mcdonald (2001) pointed that if the students’ levels of anxiety during or before test were above the optimum level, students might fail to show their actual ability.”
Test anxiety and GCSE performance: the effect of gender and socio‐economic background (2008, background): “McDonald's ( 2001 ) review of the literature identifies three socio‐demographic moderating variables of potential importance: age, gender and socio‐cultural background.”
Emotionality, Emotion Regulation, and School Performance in Middle School Children. (2002, background): “Although there is previous evidence that anxiety interferes with test performance (McDonald, 2001), the present findings suggest that negative academic affect is also linked with more general aspects of academic success.”
Anxiety among high school students in India: Comparisons across gender, school type, social strata and perceptions of quality time with parents (2010, background): “While anxiety is known to affect both learning and performance (McDonald, 2001), no empirical research has explored the relationship between adolescent anxiety and school type, school choice, or mode of instruction.”
Test anxiety prevalence and gender differences in a sample of English secondary school students (2014, background): “Small gender differences are typically found in self-reported test anxiety, where female students reported higher scores than male students (Hembree 1988; McDonald 2001; Zeidner and Safir 1989).”
Students’ conflicting attitudes towards games as a vehicle for learning mathematics: A methodological dilemma (2007, background): “achievement tests (McDonald, 2001).”
Math Performance and Academic Anxiety Forms, from Sociodemographic to Cognitive Aspects: a Meta-analysis on 906,311 Participants (2021, background): “…educational settings) and (b) found in a variety of academic subjects (Hembree, 1990), including English, science, mathematics, and social sciences (McDonald, 2001; Zeidner, 2007), and (c) is usually assessed without any connection to a specific academic domain but rather to general academic…”
The Test Anxiety Inventory for Children and Adolescents (TAICA) (2008, background): “…the test anxiety model, such as intelligence (e.g., Hembree, 1988), social–emotional functioning (e.g., Beidel & Turner, 1988), trait anxiety (e.g., McDonald, 2001), study skills and habits (e.g., Cassady, 2004), academic ability (e.g., Sub & Prabha, 2003), and academic self-efficacy (e.g.,…”
Testing and Motivation for Learning (2003, background): “A review by McDonald (2001) was specifically focused on test anxiety and its impact on students’ performance.”
Identifying Severity Standards on the Cognitive Test Anxiety Scale: Cut Score Determination Using Latent Class and Cluster Analysis (2018, result): “Furthermore, our results are consistent with past research suggesting that approximately 20% to 40% of students routinely experience elevated levels of test anxiety within evaluative situations (Carter, Williams, & Silverman, 2008; Ergene, 2003; McDonald, 2001; Putwain, 2007).”
Test Anxiety and Physiological Arousal: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis (2020, background): “To date, there are more than 2000 published studies on this often detrimental emotion (e.g., Hembree 1988; McDonald 2001; Zeidner 2014).”