The Relative Influence of Identified Components of Text Anxiety in Baccalaureate Nursing Students

Abstract

The relative influence on test anxiety of cognitive interference, self-concept, study and test-taking skills, and cumulative grade point average was investigated. Fifty-six female baccalaureate nursing students completed the following measures: Sarason's Test Anxiety Scale, Brown's Effective Study Test, Sarason's Cognitive Interference Questionnaire, and Brookover's Self-Concept of Ability Scale. Subjects also reported their cumulative grade point average (GPA). Data were analyzed through the use of correlation and stepwise multiple regression. Data analyses revealed significant negative relationships between test anxiety and the variables of academic self-concept and GPA (p less than .05). Academic self-concept was the most powerful predictor of test anxiety, while GPA and cognitive interference contributed significantly but minimally to the multiple regression equation. Results support Meichenbaum and Butler's (1980) contention regarding the multidimensional nature of the test anxiety construct.