Multivariate effects of gender, ownership, and the frequency of use on computer anxiety among high school students

Abstract

Studies that address the problems associated with computer anxiety are abundant; however, fewer studies took into account multivariate nature of the construct. Moreover, studies focusing on high school students are even more limited. Thus, the present study investigated the multivariate effects of gender, ownership, and the frequency of computer use on computer anxiety levels, after controlling for the possible effects of trait anxiety among 715 Turkish high school students. The Computer Anxiety Scale and the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory were used to assess computer anxiety and state and trait anxiety levels, respectively. A 2 X 2 X 3 between-subjects factorial multivariate analysis of covariance was used on three dependent variables that are the three dimensions of computer anxiety: Affective Anxiety, Damaging Anxiety, and Learning Anxiety. Independent variables are gender, ownership (i.e., yes or no), and the frequency of computer use (i.e., everyday, several times a week, or once a week or less). Results showed a significant covariate effect of trait anxiety, significant main effects for gender, ownership, and the frequency of computer use on the dependent variables. No three-way or two-way interaction was detected. After the descriptive and comparative analyses, specific suggestions were provided based on the results.