The Role of School Climate and Other Contextual Factors in Adolescent Test Anxiety

• In Event: Developmentally Responsive Practice in Middle-Level Schools

Abstract

Test anxiety has an impact at both a school-wide and individual student level. We examined both intrapersonal and contextual factors using a developmental systems model as they relate to test anxiety in students, while also investigating the moderating role of school climate. Participants included 298 students attending a suburban middle school in southeastern Michigan. Two intrapersonal variables (effortful control and perceived threat of tests) significantly predicted test anxiety. The contextual variables including parental expectations and school climate did not significantly predict test anxiety. Contrary to our hypothesis, the moderating role of school climate on the relation between effortful control and test anxiety was unsupported. Results point to the importance of interventions focused on intrapersonal variables to target test anxiety.

Authors

• LeaAnn Imasa, Wayne State University

• Cheryl Leigh Somers, Wayne State University

• Ty Partridge, Wayne State University

• Elizabeth Robtoy

• Nadia Habhab

• Jina Yoon, Wayne State University