Test anxiety refers to maladaptive cognitive and physiological reactions that interfere with optimal performance. Self-regulatory models suggest test anxiety occurs when there is a perceived discrepancy between current functioning and mental representations of desired academic goals. Interestingly, prior investigations have demonstrated those with greater interhemispheric communication are better able to detect discrepancies between current functioning and preexisting mental representations. Thus, the current study was designed to investigate the relationship between test anxiety and handedness—a commonly used proxy variable for interhemispheric communication. Undergraduate and graduate students (N = 277, 85.20% female, 68.19% Caucasian, $ \overline{\chi} $ age = 29.88) (SD = 9.53) completed the FRIEDBEN Test Anxiety Scale and Edinburgh Handedness Inventory – Short Form. A series of Mann–Whitney U tests were used to test for differences in the cognitive, physiological, and social components of test anxiety between mixed- and consistent-handers. The results indicated that mixed-handers had significantly higher levels of cognitive test anxiety than consistent-handers. We believe this information has important implications for our understanding of the role of discrepancy detection and interhemispheric communication in eliciting and maintaining test-anxious responses.

This article traces the rise of anxiety among American high school and college students since the late 1950s, with particular focus on the decades before 2000. Evidence for rates of change comes from anxiety tests administered during the period, as well as a variety of psychological studies. The article also takes up the issue of causation, highlighting the extension of counseling services and psychological vocabulary that affected evaluations of nervousness; the impact of negative developments like crime rates and growing family instability; and the results both of changes in educational patterns—such as more frequent examinations—and significant shifts in student goals and expectations. Finally, the article touches on efforts to mitigate anxiety, such as expanding student services, and also their limited impact.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the cross-lagged relationships between academic procrastination and test anxiety. A sample of Chinese adolescents from a high school in Changsha City, HuNan Province, China participated in this study. The participants completed the Aitken Procrastination Inventory and the Test Anxiety Scale at two times during a semester. Pearson correlation analysis showed academic procrastination and test anxiety to be positively correlated. Cross-lagged panel analyses demonstrated that academic procrastination at Time 1 predicted test anxiety at Time 2, while test anxiety at Time 1 did not predict academic procrastination at Time 2. Within the limits of the design, we found that academic procrastination may lead to an increase in test anxiety, but test anxiety did not predict the future level of academic procrastination. It is recognised that the relationship between anxiety and procrastination is complicated. It is suggested that a focus on interventions for academic procrastination may help to reduce students’ test anxiety, but not necessarily vice versa.

Test anxiety is experienced by 10–40% of students. The physical symptoms associated with test anxiety may be more likely to be exhibited by elementary students. Progressive muscle relaxation (PMR) has been demonstrated to reduce physical symptoms of anxiety and could be used in the classroom, but teacher acceptability of PMR for test anxiety has not been assessed. This study used a vignette format to survey 404 first through fifth grade teachers on their acceptability of classroom-based PMR as an intervention for test anxiety. Good levels of acceptability were found for implementation with a school psychologist or counsellor, CD player, or digital music player. Special education teachers reported slightly lower levels of acceptability for using PMR in the digital music player scenario. With good levels of teacher acceptability of PMR to address test anxiety, school psychologists and counsellors may be more likely to recommend the use of PMR in classrooms. Implications for implementation of PMR to reduce test anxiety, study limitations, and suggestions for future research are discussed.

The aim of this research was to assess the mediating role of self-esteem and optimism in the correlation between test anxiety and life satisfaction. The study group comprised 201 females (50.6%), 185 males (46.6%) and 11 students without stated gender (2.8%) for a total of 397 high school students. The ages of adolescents included in the study group varied from 14 to 19, with a mean age of 16.09 (SD = 1.09). The research used the Test Anxiety Inventory, Satisfaction with Life Scale, Self-Esteem Scale, Life Orientation Test and a personal information form developed by the researchers as data collection tools. According to the results of correlation analysis, there were significant correlations between test anxiety, self-esteem, optimism and life satisfaction. According to the mediation test results, self-esteem and optimism have full mediating roles in the correlation between test anxiety and life satisfaction. The results obtained are discussed with reference to the literature.

This study investigated the moderating role of achievement motivation in the relationship between test anxiety and academic performance. Three hundred and ninety three participants (192 males and 201 females) selected from a public university in Ondo State, Nigeria using a purposive sampling technique, participated in the study. They responded to measures of test anxiety and achievement motivation. Three hypotheses were tested using moderated hierarchical multiple regression analysis. Results showed that test anxiety had a negative impact on academic performance (β = –.23; p < .05). Achievement motivation had a positive impact on academic performance (β = .38; p < .05). Also, achievement motivation significantly moderated the relationship between test anxiety and academic performance (β = .10; p < .01). These findings suggest that university management should design appropriate psycho-educational interventions that would enhance students’ achievement motivation.

In a sample of 569 Chinese high school students, the present findings indicated that students with the 4-repeat genotype showed a higher level of test anxiety. Furthermore, the prediction of academic performance on test anxiety was stronger among students with the 3-repeat genotype than those with the 4-repeat genotype. The present findings suggest that mono-amine-oxidase type A gene polymorphism is significantly related to test anxiety.

The current study sets out to explore test anxiety in adolescent students. The effect of sociodemographic variables on test anxiety was controlled for and the relationship between test anxiety and other psychological constructs, such as self-criticism, social anxiety, acceptance and mindfulness, was examined. In addition, the predictive effect/power of these variables was analyzed and a comparative study between high and low test anxiety adolescents was conducted. Participants in this study were 449 high school students, 211 boys and 238 girls, with a mean age of 16.28 years. These participants completed a battery of self-report questionnaires composed by the Portuguese versions of Test Anxiety Inventory (TAI), Child Acceptance and Mindfulness Measure (CAMM), Forms of Self-Criticizing/Attacking and Self-Reassuring Scale (FSCRS), and the Social Anxiety and Avoidance Scale for Adolescents (SAASA). Results showed that gender, self-criticism and competencies for acceptance and mindfulness had a significant and an independent contribution on the prediction of test anxiety. The comparative study revealed that adolescents with high test anxiety score significantly higher in negative forms of self-criticism, social anxiety and lower in self-reassurance, acceptance and mindfulness, when compared to those with low test anxiety. Despite its exploratory nature, the current study adds to the existing knowledge on the influence of psychological processes, such as self-criticism and acceptance, on test anxiety. These findings might constitute a relevant contribution to psychological intervention with adolescents.

Test anxiety (TA) affects exam performance and has been found to be composed of a cognitive (worry) and emotional component. The cognitive component has been implicated in the performance decrements seen in individuals with high TA; however, interventions involving cognitive therapies have provided mixed and limited outcomes with regard to improvement in performance. This article explores TA in relation to attentional control theory, which provides a framework for the impact of anxiety on working memory and cognitive performance. Possible interventions for the treatment of TA guided by attentional control theory will then be discussed and the need for further research to explore the efficacy of these interventions established.

A number of reviews and meta-analyses in the past 30 years have described and evaluated interventions designed to enhance ocademic performance in university undergraduates. Reviewers’recommendations, however, have often remained unimplemented. This meta-review of reviews and meta-analyses of interventions published in the academic literature between 1969 and 1999 was aimed to determine which kinds of interventions have been successful in enhancing academic performance, to identify methodological shortcomings, and to suggest directions for future research and teaching practice. It was found that interventions are often successful at enhancing performance, with the recent trend towards cognitive-behavioural or metacognitive interventions showing most promise. However, there are widespread methodological shortcomings in the reviewed literature. Key recommendations for future research include random allocotion to treatment and control groups, the use of volunteer populations, exclusion of first semester students as research participants, use of nonanalogue outcome measures, and reporting of effect sizes rather than reliance solely on statistical significance as the index of success. A teaching style that fosters the use of metacognitive and self-directed learning strategies may further enhance contemporary teaching practice.