Examination of Test Anxiety in a Sample of 18 to 26 year-old Singapore and U.S. Undergraduate Male and Female Students on the Test Anxiety Measure for College Students-Short Form

Abstract

A cross-national study was conducted on a new test anxiety measure, the Test Anxiety Measure for College Students-Short Form (TAMC-SF) in a sample of 1,023 Singapore and U.S. students, aged 18-26. The TAMC-SF consists of one facilitating anxiety scale and five test anxiety (Worry, Cognitive Interference, Social Concerns, Physiological Hyperarousal, and Task Irrelevant Behaviors) scales. The measure was administered to the sample of higher education students online. The results of single-group confirmatory factor analyses found support for the TAMC-SF six-factor model for Singapore students, U.S. students, male students, and female students. In addition, the results of multi-group, mean and covariance structure analysis found support for the construct equivalency of the TAMC-SF scores across country and gender. Latent mean factor analyses followed and the results of these analyses indicated Singapore students had significantly higher levels of social concerns and significantly lower levels of cognitive interference and worry than U.S. students. The findings also indicated females had significantly higher levels of test anxiety than males on all five TAMC-SF test anxiety scales. Evidence supporting the construct validity of the TAMC-SF scores with the scores of math anxiety, social phobia, and self-critical perfectionism was also reported. Implications of the study’s findings for researchers and clinicians are discussed.