A latent growth curve analysis of state test anxiety in successive days of before and after an examination and in relations to trait test anxiety

Abstract

State test anxiety (STA) and its temporal course surrounding an important examination are of particular interest. This study investigated ten daily assessments of examination-related STA measured on seven consecutive days before and three days after an obligatory written university examination on N = 172 predominantly female students. The discontinuous second-order latent growth curve model consisted of two STA intercept and slope factors that each corresponded to the phases “before” and “after” the examination. STA increased before the examination, plummeted right after, and further decreased during the following days. Students with high STA levels before the examination experienced high levels after the examination, and students with a steep increase showed a steep decrease. The test anxiety traits worry and emotionality correlated more closely with STA levels before than after the examination, but not with STA change gradients. Implications for further research on the temporal changes of examination-related test anxiety are discussed.