School Anxiety Research Articles

Predicting School Anxiety Based on Procrastination, Attachment to Parents, and Students' Personality Traits

Objective: The aim of this research was to predict school anxiety based on procrastination, attachment to parents, and personality traits among students in Diwaniyah city, Iraq. Methods and Materials: This study was descriptive and correlational. The statistical population consisted of both female and male students from Diwaniyah. The sample was selected through convenience sampling, including 300 students of both genders. The research instruments were the researcher-made School Anxiety Scale, Solomon and Rothblum's (1984) Academic Procrastination Questionnaire, Armsden and Greenberg's (1987) Inventory of Parent and Peer Attachment, and Costa and McCrae's (1992) Five Factor Personality Questionnaire. Findings: Results indicated that neuroticism and insecure attachment styles to peers and parents have a significant positive relationship with academic procrastination, while secure attachment to parents and peers, openness to experience, and conscientiousness have a significant negative relationship with academic procrastination; extraversion and agreeableness were not related to academic procrastination. Stepwise regression results showed that openness to experience, conscientiousness, and secure attachment style to peers and parents can predict procrastination. Conclusion: It can be concluded that school anxiety can be predicted by procrastination, attachment to parents, and students’ personality traits.

Identification of Social Anxiety in High School: A Machine Learning Approaches to Real-Time Analysis of Student Characteristics

Identification of Social Anxiety in High School: A Machine Learning Approaches to Real-Time Analysis of Student Characteristics

THE ROLE OF THE SCHOOL-FAMILY PARTNERSHIP IN THE EMOTIONAL REGULATION OF STUDENTS TAKING THE BACCALAUREATE EXAMINATION

School anxiety belongs to the category of social anxiety disorders and has broader consequences on emotional development. If a student’s academic self-concept does not align with their academic goals (such as success on an assessment), this can cause anxiety. Students may then try to use strategies to reduce the level of anxiety they feel. The ability to cope adequately with difficult academic assessment situations plays a major role in emotional regulation and increasing students’ psychological well-being. Our objectives for the study were to assess the level of test anxiety and level of worry of 12th-grade students, the level of communication between the school and the families of students taking the Baccalaureate Examination, to identify associations between students’ test anxiety and family involvement in students’ preparation and emotional regulation.

Intervention for school anxiety and absenteeism in children (ISAAC): Co-designing a brief parent-focused intervention for emotionally-based school avoidance.

Emotionally-based school avoidance (EBSA) is an important driver of persistent school absenteeism and may have worsened in the context of COVID-19. This paper describes the development of a brief parent-focused psychosocial intervention with the goal to address the lack of accessible early interventions for EBSA. The developmental process used a person-based approach with two phases. In Phase 1, qualitative data were collected about intervention preferences and priorities from N = 10 parents and N = 7 practitioners in a series of co-design workshops. Phase 2 refined an intervention blueprint based on iterative consultations with N = 4 parents and N = 3 practitioners. Framework analysis was used to organise findings around key intervention parameters, including relevant mechanisms, content, and delivery methods needed to provide effective, acceptable and feasible support for families affected by EBSA. The resulting blueprint incorporates three online modules to be delivered over three weeks with each module consisting of psychoeducational videos, self-completed learning tasks and a corresponding coaching session. Respective module content includes: (i) self-care strategies to increase parent wellbeing and self-efficacy; (ii) parenting strategies to change behavioural patterns that maintain child distress and avoidance of school; and (iii) strategic communication strategies to increase the quality of home-school relationships. The blueprint has been developed into a full prototype for a forthcoming feasibility study.

(How) do self-concept, interest, and conscientiousness function together in academic motivation? A typological approach developed and replicated in two large-scale samples

BackgroundFollowing a call for integrative attempts to study academic motivation, we apply a typological approach. AimTo identify and replicate naturally existing combinations of general academic self-concept, school interest, and conscientiousness. SampleTwo national representative samples of Luxembourgish 9th grade students (N > 12,000). MethodLatent profile analysis (LPA) to identify motivation profiles, as well as BCH method and R3STEP approach to relate profiles to academic adjustment and background variables. ResultsLPA's revealed six robust motivation profiles, three of which mainly reflect differences in students' general motivation level (i.e., “Highly motivated”, “Lowly motivated”, and “Amotivated” students). In line with the assumption of synergistic motivation processes in expectancy and value, these differences in motivation strength were reflected uniformly in different indicators of academic adjustment (e.g., standardized test scores and school anxiety). However, we also replicated three profiles whose nature and relation to academic adjustment point to compensatory and interference processes of motivation. While “Self-confident” students, who are characterized by a high general academic self-concept only, showed a better academic achievement as would have been expected by their motivation level, “Unconfident” students showed a rather poor academic adjustment, despite a relatively high interest in schooling and a high conscientiousness. In addition, we found some evidence that for “Conscientiously motivated” students, being highly conscientious may compensate for relatively low interest, seemingly at the cost of relatively high school anxiety. ConclusionOur typological approach complements previous variable- and person-oriented research on the interplay between expectancy beliefs, value beliefs, and conscientiousness.

Коммуникативные трудности в обучении младших школьников

<p>The article describes the main learning difficulties primary school students face in communication. To identify these difficulties we useda digital adaptation of the School Anxiety Test (Phillips Test). Primary school students from 5 subjects of the Russian Federation were recruited for this study (The Republic of Tatarstan, Lipetsk Region, Volgograd Region, Chuvash Republic, Samara Region). 2031 4th grade students aged 9-11 years participated in the research. The data obtained revealed a significant percentage of primary school students with increased and high levels of anxiety and fears associated with school, which can be predictors of educational difficulties and school failure. Experimental testing of the developed diagnostic program proved that: 1) our initial theoretical assumptions about the forms of manifestations of learning difficulties of primary school students in the communicative area were reasonable; 2) the diagnostic method of some specific manifestations of learning difficulties is valid.</p>

Опросник «Школьная тревожность» Б. Филлипса: результаты стандартизации русскоязычной версии «Тест школьной тревожности Филлипса»

<p>School anxiety is understood as a condition that is accompanied by anxiety, tension, uncertainty and stress related to educational activities, social relations and behavior at school. Modern research shows the influence of a high level of school anxiety on a student’s self-esteem and self-confidence, a decrease in his educational motivation and the effectiveness of educational activities, as well as the emergence of problems in establishing relationships with classmates and teachers. The article presents the results of standardization of the modified Russian-language version of the “School Anxiety” Questionnaire by B. Phillips. The study sample consisted of 2105 students from schools in the Central and Volga Federal Districts. The constructive validity of the test has been statistically proven. Confirmatory factor analysis showed satisfactory compliance of empirical data with the structure of the questionnaire. The scales correlate with each other at the average level, the directions of the connections correspond to the expected ones. The internal reliability of all scales was statistically confirmed using the Cronbach’s alpha coefficient. Differential validity has been statistically proven. The questionnaire can be recommended to teachers-psychologists to study the problems of anxiety at school.</p>

Therapeutically applied Minecraft groups with neurodivergent youth.

Therapeutically applied Minecraft groups are an intervention designed to support social engagement, confidence, and competence in youth. The flexible interaction format and use of a popular digital game support the fit of this intervention for use with neurodivergent youth. Minecraft is leveraged to support opportunities to build authentic relationships and social confidence in an engaging, low-stakes environment with peers. The group format allows for real-world social practice with peers, while the game environment can support motivation to interact with others, and provides multiple modes for such interaction (i.e., chat, building/movement with the avatar). This article outlines the theoretical foundations of therapeutically applied Minecraft groups as well as practical considerations for implementation. The method outlined includes the justification for this method, process of creating support groups, check-in and check-out processes, and in-game activity examples for different situations. Use cases are included to illustrate how the methods have been used in the past to support social growth with neurodivergent youth. Use cases include examples of different Minecraft servers, such as the habitat, and identifying stresses of social growth such as school anxiety and how the use of therapeutically applied Minecraft helped. Therapeutically applied Minecraft groups can provide opportunities for peer connection and social practice in a facilitated environment. Though the use of Minecraft and other games to support learning and social connection is prevalent in the media, the academic research in this area is sparse. This article provides an example of Minecraft in use in a therapeutic context and calls for more formal research in this area of therapeutically applied games.

Return to School Anxiety after Covid-19 in High School Students: A Field Study in Turkey

Return to School Anxiety after Covid-19 in High School Students: A Field Study in Turkey

Experiential Learning and Toastmasters International Programme: Transformative Effects of Public Speaking Training on Oral Presentations

The current study reviewed the literature on oral communication apprehension and its effects on academic performance, specifically the effectiveness of public speaking training: the Toastmasters International programme. Communication techniques, expertise, and various aspects that lead to oral communication anxiety were investigated, including a broad range of communication dimensions. Furthermore, the study investigated numerous forms and repercussions and demonstrated the link between anxiety and academic accomplishment. The significance of public speaking training as a powerful method to reduce anxiety was emphasised. A comprehensive description of the Toastmasters International programme and its function in developing excellent communication skills was also clarified. The study explained the theoretical basis, specifically the experiential learning theory and its contextual relevance to public speaking training. The current literature highlighted the scarcity of research on communication anxiety in technical and vocational schools, specifically among polytechnic diploma students. Communication apprehension within a vocational institution was investigated to address the research gap. A novel approach was proposed, which combined public speaking training based on the Toastmasters Competent Communicator Manual, Kolb's experiential learning theory, and McCroskey's communication apprehension theory. This technique developed Malaysian students’ oral communication aptitude by systematically addressing the reasons for communication anxiety and providing an experienced learning environment. The method provides the students with the skills required to thrive globally. The current study uncovered new paths for minimising communication anxiety to push for student success.

Understanding School Anxiety in Italian Adolescence through an Artificial Neural Network: Influence of Social Skills and Coping Strategies.

School anxiety depends on multiple factors that occur directly or indirectly in the teaching-learning process, such as going to the blackboard in class or reporting low grades at home. Other factors that influence school climate are social skills and coping strategies. That said, the aim of this research was to analyze the sources of school anxiety, coping strategies, and social skills in Italian secondary school students through an artificial neural network. For this purpose, a quantitative and ex post facto design was used in which the Inventory of School Anxiety (IAES), the Coping Scale for Children (EAN), and the Questionnaire for the Evaluation of Social Skills student version (EHS-A) were administered. The results showed that cognitive avoidance and behavioral avoidance coping strategies, together with the lack of social skills in students, are the variables that contributed the most to school anxiety scores in the artificial neural network. The conclusions revolve around the need to develop primary prevention programs.

Трансформація цінностей дівчаток-підлітків під впливом комплексної оздоровчої програми

The study on the impact of a health program using the means of health fitness, motivational training, and psychocorrective activities on the transformation of value orientations of underweight teenage schoolgirls is relevant. The aim of the study is to investigate the impact of a comprehensive health program on the transformation of value orientations and school anxiety of underweight adolescent girls. The study involved 69 underweight adolescent girls (among them 54 12-yearold girls and 15 13-year-old girls). Methods. To assess value orientations, the M. Rokych’s methodology was used. The Phillips test was used to assess the level and nature of school anxiety in teenage girls. The factor structure of value orientations and school anxiety of 12-13-year-old girls with body weight deficiency was studied using factor analysis. Results. Based on the factor analysis, the transformation of the girls’ instrumental values, as well as the positive dynamics of the decrease in their school anxiety indicators, were accepted as criteria for the effectiveness of the health program. The program was designed for 9 months of duration and included psychocorrective activities, motivational training, and health-enhancing recreational physical activity. After the study, the value of health increased by 2 points and was in the top three most important values, and the value of knowledge rose by 6 units in the ranking of values. Among the positive changes, it should be noted that the rating of such a value as “Sensitivity” increased by 7 points and “Intolerance to shortcomings in oneself and others” decreased by 9 points. After participation in the program, there was a decrease in school anxiety indicators (frustration of the need to achieve success, which is expressed in an unfavorable mental background that does not allow the child to achieve a high result and fear of self-expression, which is manifested in negative emotional experiences of situations related to the need t present myself to others). Conclusions. The proposed program had a positive effect on the transformation of value orientations, the reduction of school anxiety indicators of 12–13-year-old girls with a body weight deficit.

Reliability and validity evidence of the School Anxiety Inventory scores in a sample of Spanish children: A new self‐report

AbstractAnxiety and school fears are relatively frequent in childhood. Psychology and education professionals need to have assessment instruments for screening for school anxiety in schools. This study aimed to develop, adapt, and examine the reliability and validity evidence of the School Anxiety Inventory for Primary Education (SAI‐PE) scores. Using random cluster sampling, a sample of 843 Spanish students (51.7% girls), ages ranging from 8 to 12 years (M = 10.03, SD = 1.25), was selected from public and concerted schools. The content validity of the SAI‐PE scores was analyzed through experts' judgment and students' assessment of their comprehension of the instrument's items. Exploratory and confirmatory factorial analyses support the validity of the SAI‐PE scores. The results revealed a multifactorial structure for the scores of anxiety reactions (cognitive, psychophysiological, and behavioral) and school situations scores (school punishment, victimization, social, and academic evaluation). The study conclusions reinforce the importance of having instruments that assess the complexity of emotional responses such as school anxiety, favoring its early detection and evaluating the effectiveness of preventive and/or therapeutic programs in schools.

Prediction of School Anxiety based on the Academic Self-Efficacy, Academic Support and Academic Engagement of First Secondary Students of Tabriz City

Prediction of School Anxiety based on the Academic Self-Efficacy, Academic Support and Academic Engagement of First Secondary Students of Tabriz City

The level of school anxiety and the specificity of its manifestations in children with down syndrome

Children with Down syndrome studying in general schools together with children without this pathology often face an increased risk of maladjustment in the school environment. Due to the inadequacy of general education programs for children with developmental disabilities and the low level of awareness of school teachers and, especially, neurotypical school-age children about effective strategies for interacting with children with Down syndrome, the latter have an increased risk of developing school anxiety.
 The aim of the study was to determine the level of school anxiety depending on the ability to verbal communication in children with Down syndrome.
 Materials and methods: The research was carried out on the basis of the National Medical Center of ZOR, 97 children with Down's syndrome were thoroughly examined. The patients were divided into two groups according to the criterion of the ability to verbal communication: group 1 (G1) included 77 children capable of verbal communication, group 2 (G2) - 20 children who do not speak.
 Results of the study. As a result of the research, the level of school anxiety in its various aspects was established, depending on the ability to verbal communication in children with Down syndrome. Children with Down syndrome who are able to communicate were found to have significantly higher anxiety scores on almost all subscales than children with Down syndrome who are not able to communicate verbally.
 In children with Down syndrome who are incapable of verbal communication, a pathological decrease in anxiety in its various aspects is much more often noted, which may indicate a lack of understanding of social situations as a result of the lack of sufficient experience of being in a team (due to the inability to verbally produce the quality and quantity of communicative practices in such children suffer significantly). Children with Down syndrome who are able to talk have shown pathological reductions in school anxiety only in rare cases.

Speaking Anxiety in Secondary School ( A Case Study in Junior High School )

The aim of this study was to find out there was a factor that made students’ anxiety in speaking English after doing the research in VIII-8 class at SMPN 24Makassar in the 2022/2023 academic year. The approach of this study was qualitative descriptive research with using questionnaire public speaking class anxiety scale. Students’ speaking anxiety was filled by used questionnaire to electing the data. The writer took the eighth grade with 27 students from the population. The method of this study used purposive sampling technique to select a sample from the population. The results of data analysis showed that there was a factor that made students’ anxiety in speaking. The score obtained from factor of embarrassment was 225. In all factors it showed that the number of embarrassment was the highest. Factor of lack of preparation score was 55. It showed that in all factors the number of lack of preparation was lowest from the all factors. It means that factor embarrassment was the most factors that made students’ anxiety in speaking English at eighth grade students at SMPN 24 Makassar.

Niveau d’anxiété et refus scolaire dans les troubles anxieux chez l’adolescent

ObjectivesThe primary objective was to compare the level of anxiety on the Multidimensional Anxiety Scale for Children in two groups of anxious secondary school children, one group out of school meeting the criteria of School Refusal and the other in school. The secondary objective was to compare these groups on other clinical, sociodemographic and therapeutic parameters. Patient and methodRetrospective observational study of 34 school-going anxious teenagers recruited at the University Hospital of Montpellier, compared with 55 out of school anxious teenagers meeting the criteria of Anxious School Refusal recruited in a multicentre study. ResultsThere was no significant intergroup difference in median scores on the Multidimensional Anxiety Scale for Children (P=0.49), but a significant intergroup difference in median scores was found on the Behavioural Anxiety and Phobia Scale with higher total scores in the School Refusal group (151.5 [130.5; 169.0] vs. 125.0 [94.0; 139.0], P<0.01). The School Refusal group was more likely to have a panel of anxiety disorders including agoraphobia, separation anxiety, depressive disorders, more impaired global functioning and more likely to receive psychotropic medication (P<0.01). There were no significant intergroup differences in sociodemographic characteristics except age. DiscussionThe absence of significant intergroup differences in the level of anxiety measured with the Multidimensional Anxiety Scale for Children could be related to a lower level of anxiety in the school refusal group due to school refusal. The higher anxiety score with the Behavioural Anxiety and Phobia Scale in the refusal group could be related to their better sensitivity. The clinical picture in the refusal group, both more severe and with co-morbidities, is comparable to what is described in the literature. ConclusionA higher level of anxiety was not associated with school refusal according to main endpoints in teenagers with anxiety disorders. However, this group had other criteria of greater clinical severity that justify early identification.

The socio-ecological context of school anxiety in adolescents

The current article proposes a socio-ecological framework of school anxiety to explore adolescent school anxiety (through individual characteristics), in relation to the microsystem (through relationships with parents and peers), the mesosystem (through school organizational culture, relationships with teachers), the exosystem (through the extended school community) and the macrosystem (through social norms and government initiatives).Considering that the phenomenon of school anxiety among adolescents has several facets, its analysis in the con-text of psycho-pedagogical and social conditions offers a wider space for understanding the phenomenon. Determinants/risk factors include: individual, family, school, societal factors. The main points of the presented socio-ecological framework of school anxiety are based on analysis of literature and research. The framework and suggested practices would be strengthened using practical intervention and produce more evidence-based data

Bullied, anxious and skipping school? the interplay of school bullying, school anxiety and school absenteeism considering gender and grade level

IntroductionThe topics of bullying, school anxiety and school absenteeism are of steady interest for the scientific community in recent decades. However, it seems surprising that investigations into the combination of these constructs are rare, especially considering their interconnectedness. Due to the lack of joint investigation of these factors, it is hardly possible to compare results of these related, yet distinct factors across other studies, let alone the predictive power of specific factors. The goal of the current study is to investigate how bullying, school anxiety and school absenteeism are related, considering the variables gender and grade level.MethodsFor this purpose,N= 195 secondary school children in the 7th–9th grades in northern Germany were surveyedviaself-report questionnaires and additionally collecting their school records. We present complex descriptive analyses with scales and subscales of bullying, anxiety and absenteeism. Further, a structural equation modelling (SEM) approach is utilized to discover the interconnectedness of the constructs.ResultsOn the one hand, the descriptive statistics show significant gender and grade level differences regarding bullying and anxiety. On the other hand, the SEM reveals that high values on the bullying victim scale are accompanied by significantly higher school displeasure (anxiety). School displeasure—as well as high bullying offender values—are associated with significantly more days of absence from school.DiscussionWe discuss how school environment improvement through specific interventions such as the cognitive-behavioral approach, could aid to ameliorate this issue.

A comparison of two group cognitive behavioral therapy protocols for anxiety in urban schools: appropriateness, child outcomes, and cost-effectiveness.

Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) for pediatric anxiety is efficacious for reducing anxiety symptoms and improving functioning, but many children are unable to access CBT for anxiety in community settings. Schools are an important setting in which children access mental health care, including therapy for anxiety. In this setting, therapy is usually delivered by Masters-level therapists. Friends for Life (FRIENDS), a 12-session, manualized, group CBT program for anxiety has demonstrated effectiveness when implemented in schools. However, prior research has also found challenges regarding feasibility and cultural fit when delivering FRIENDS in the urban school context. To address these challenges, we adapted FRIENDS for implementation in the school setting so that it might be more feasible and culturally appropriate for low-income, urban schools in the United States, while maintaining the core components of treatment. The current study uses a mixed-method approach to compare the effectiveness, cost-effectiveness, and perceived appropriateness of FRIENDS and CATS when delivered by Masters-level therapists with train-the-trainer support. First, we compared change scores for student outcomes (i.e., child-report MASC-2 total score, parent-report MASC-2 total score, teacher-report Engagement and Disaffection subscale scores) from pre- to post- treatment between students receiving FRIENDS and students receiving CATS to assess whether the two conditions resulted in equivalent outcomes. Second, we compared the cost and cost-effectiveness between the groups. Finally, we used an applied thematic analysis to compare appropriateness of the interventions as perceived by therapists and supervisors. The mean change score for the child-reported MASC-2 was 1.9 (SE = 1.72) points in the FRIENDS condition and 2.9 (SE = 1.73) points in the CATS condition; results indicated that the conditions were similar in their treatment effects, and symptom reductions were small in both groups. The modified protocol, CATS, was shown to cost significantly less to implement compared to FRIENDS and showed greater cost-effectiveness. Finally, compared to therapists and supervisors in the CATS condition, therapists and supervisors in the FRIENDS condition more strongly described aspects of the intervention that were not appropriate for their context and in need of more extensive adaptations. Relatively brief, group CBT for anxiety, with adaptations to improve cultural fit, is a promising approach to treat youth anxiety symptom when delivered by school-based therapists with train-the-trainer implementation support.