Relations Between Prior School Performance and Later Test Anxiety During the Transition to Secondary School

• In Event: AERA Poster Session 8
  In Poster Session: Assessment and Learning: Review and Applications (San Diego)

Abstract

When exposed to evaluative situations, up to 40% of students develop test anxiety, reflected by extensive worry, intrusive thoughts, and physiological arousal. Though the negative influence of test anxiety on later school performance is well documented, the role of students’ initial achievement in the development of test anxiety remains unclear. Therefore, 1569 students were followed across the transition to secondary school to examine linear and curvilinear relations between prior achievement in mathematics and language arts and later test anxiety across genders. Multilevel regressions generally showed curvilinear relations between performance and test anxiety and highlighted distinct patterns across school domains and genders, suggesting that interventions targeting students with different achievement profiles could help reducing test anxiety in school.

Authors

• Isabelle Plante, University of Quebec - Montreal

• Véronique Lecours

• Raphaël Lapointe

• Kathryn Everhart Chaffee, University of Quebec - Montreal

• Catherine Fréchette-Simard