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Journal of Experimental Child Psychology Feb 2022Prior research demonstrates that individuals' math anxiety may be negatively related to their mathematics performance. However, little research has examined how...
Prior research demonstrates that individuals' math anxiety may be negatively related to their mathematics performance. However, little research has examined how caregivers' math anxiety is associated with children's mathematics performance prior to kindergarten. The purpose of this study was to investigate the relation between parents' math anxiety and the change in children's mathematics performance during the preschool year. Participants were 310 preschool-age children (155 female; 4.12-5.78 years of age, M = 5.20 years, SD = 0.29). Structural equation modeling results demonstrated that parents' math anxiety was significantly negatively related to change in children's mathematics performance during the pre-kindergarten year when controlling for fall mathematics performance and demographics. Moreover, multigroup path analyses revealed that this association did not differ for male versus female children.
Topics: Anxiety; Child; Child, Preschool; Educational Status; Female; Humans; Male; Mathematics; Parents; Schools
PubMed: 34624707
DOI: 10.1016/j.jecp.2021.105302 -
AMA Journal of Ethics Mar 2023This comic considers how patients can work to use the right vocabulary to help their physicians help them, since patients suffer when physicians fail to properly...
This comic considers how patients can work to use the right vocabulary to help their physicians help them, since patients suffer when physicians fail to properly diagnose and intervene on their ailments. This comic also considers how patients can experience performance anxiety after what might be months of preparation for a key clinic visit in hopes of getting help.
Topics: Humans; Cues; Hope; Physicians
PubMed: 36867170
DOI: 10.1001/amajethics.2023.226 -
PloS One 2022The purposes of this study were to investigate differences in personality and competitive anxiety depending on types of sports and gender, and to determine the influence...
The purposes of this study were to investigate differences in personality and competitive anxiety depending on types of sports and gender, and to determine the influence of personality on competitive anxiety. Participants included 237 athletes (134 men and 103 women) who participated in the Thailand University Games, 2020. They were classified as individual (n = 114) and team (n = 123) athletes. Personality characteristics and competitive anxiety were assessed by using NEO five-factor inventory and sport competitive anxiety test. Differences between individual and team athletes and between gender were tested by using independent t-test. Relationships between personality and competitive anxiety were analyzed by using Pearson product-moment correlation coefficient. Moreover, multiple regression analysis was used to measure the contributions of personality on competitive anxiety. The results showed that competitive anxiety was significant difference between individual and team athletes (p = 0.03, d = 0.28). However, there was no difference in personality between groups. When compared between gender, there were significant differences in competitive anxiety (p < 0.001, d = 0.52) and the agreeableness (p = 0.04, d = -0.26) component of personality between female and male athletes. From the correlation analyzes, four characteristics of personality showed significant associations with competitive anxiety including neuroticism (r = -0.472, ρ < 0.001), extraversion (r = 0.184, ρ = 0.005), agreeableness (r = 0.147, ρ = 0.024), and conscientiousness (r = 0.202, ρ = 0.002). Among five personality factors, the neuroticism had minimally negative effect on competitive anxiety (β = -0.52) with percentage of prediction of 22%. These can be concluded that types of sport and gender are the important factors affecting personality and competitive anxiety. The athletes with certain personality traits were more susceptible to competitive anxiety. Importantly, the neuroticism could serve as a prediction of the competitive anxiety in all collegiate athletes.
Topics: Adolescent; Adult; Anxiety; Anxiety Disorders; Athletes; Competitive Behavior; Female; Humans; Male; Performance Anxiety; Personality; Personality Inventory; Sex Factors; Sports; Thailand; Universities; Young Adult
PubMed: 35030214
DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0262486 -
Currents in Pharmacy Teaching & Learning Dec 2020Test anxiety is well studied in higher education, but studies primarily concern traditional assessments, such as written examinations. As use of objective structured... (Review)
Review
INTRODUCTION
Test anxiety is well studied in higher education, but studies primarily concern traditional assessments, such as written examinations. As use of objective structured clinical examination (OSCE) in pharmacy education increases, a closer examination of non-cognitive factors such as test anxiety is warranted. The purpose of this review was to determine the association between OSCE-associated test anxiety with OSCE performance in health professional students.
METHODS
A literature search was conducted to identify peer-reviewed literature concerning test anxiety in health professional students associated with OSCE. Investigators searched for a combination of OSCE-related terms with anxiety-related terms using PubMed. Articles were included if they assessed OSCE-related anxiety by quantitative or qualitative methods. Data extracted from eligible articles included demographic data, type of the anxiety survey, associations between OSCE-related anxiety and performance, and other student-factors associated with OSCE-related anxiety.
RESULTS
The literature search yielded 339 articles. Nine articles met eligibility criteria and were included in the review. Results included students from medical, pharmacy, dental, and nursing professional programs. Anxiety was assessed via multiple scales. Six out of the eight studies assessing the relationship OSCE-related anxiety and OSCE performance found no association between the two measures. Contrary to literature concerning test anxiety in higher education, female gender was not associated with OSCE-related anxiety.
CONCLUSION
OSCE-related anxiety appears to have minimal to no influence on student performance. Future studies should utilize standardized anxiety assessments and should seek to understand anxiety's effects on student wellbeing and burnout.
Topics: Anxiety; Clinical Competence; Educational Measurement; Female; Humans; Physical Examination; Students
PubMed: 33092780
DOI: 10.1016/j.cptl.2020.07.007 -
The American Journal of Medicine Aug 2020
Topics: Adrenergic beta-Antagonists; Humans; Performance Anxiety; Propranolol; Students, Medical; Test Taking Skills
PubMed: 32061732
DOI: 10.1016/j.amjmed.2020.01.017 -
PloS One 2023Statistics anxiety is common among social science students. Despite much evidence examining statistics anxiety and test performance, little research has explored the...
BACKGROUND
Statistics anxiety is common among social science students. Despite much evidence examining statistics anxiety and test performance, little research has explored the role of student self-prediction on test performance in a higher education setting.
OBJECTIVE
The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between statistics anxiety and both students' self-prediction of their future exam performance and actual test performance on a formal statistics assessment at undergraduate level in psychology students in the UK.
METHOD
Using a cross-sectional design, two hundred and two students were required to complete Statistics Anxiety Rating Scales, the Mathematical Prerequisites for Psychometrics Scale, and provided self-predicted test performance scores. Test performance data was obtained from a formal statistics assessment.
RESULTS
As predicted, we demonstrated statistics test anxiety to be negatively associated with self-predicted performance. Additionally, we found statistics anxiety was positively associated with test performance.
CONCLUSION
The findings highlight the complex relationship between statistics anxiety and test performance, suggesting there may be an optimal level of anxiety for performance in statistics assessments.
IMPLICATIONS
The results we report have implications for psychology research methods and statistics instructors who may wish to incorporate the findings into statistics instruction modules in order to assuage high levels of statistics anxiety and foster student well-being.
Topics: Humans; Cross-Sectional Studies; Anxiety; Anxiety Disorders; Students; United Kingdom
PubMed: 37611055
DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0290467 -
Medical Problems of Performing Artists Dec 2022Music performance anxiety (MPA) is an issue concerning musicians from all levels but is still a rather neglected topic in the education and employment of musicians. This...
BACKGROUND
Music performance anxiety (MPA) is an issue concerning musicians from all levels but is still a rather neglected topic in the education and employment of musicians. This study investigated the link between self-esteem, MPA, and depression within a German-speaking sample of musicians of different professions. The underlying question of this study was generated during psychotherapy treatment of musicians with depression and MPA. Thus, we investigated whether musicians with low self-esteem had MPA or depression.
METHODS
An online questionnaire on self-esteem, performance anxiety, and depression was sent to a sample (n=295) of German musicians of different professions and levels of education. The assessment tools in the online questionnaire included the Rosenberg-Self-Esteem-Scale, the Kenny Music-Performance-Anxiety-Inventory, and the Beck-Depression-Inventory.
RESULTS
Music students had a significantly lower self-esteem scores compared to employed professionals and amateurs and a higher MPA compared to employed musicians. Regression analyses showed a significant prediction of depression by self-esteem and MPA. Specifically, low self-esteem and the cognitive and behavioral aspects of MPA were significant predictors of depression. Partial mediation by MPA between self-esteem and depression was found.
CONCLUSION
Low self-esteem and MPA could predict depression. The scores of the entire sample of musicians regarding their MPA and depression were higher than in the general German population. These results highlight the importance of education and removal of negativity regarding performance anxiety in order to improve psychotherapy methods and ensure musicians' health in general.
Topics: Humans; Music; Depression; Performance Anxiety; Self Concept; Students
PubMed: 36455105
DOI: 10.21091/mppa.2022.4031 -
Journal of Experimental Child Psychology Oct 2021Vocational interest in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) fields in middle school can predict life outcomes, including enrollment in STEM courses and...
Vocational interest in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) fields in middle school can predict life outcomes, including enrollment in STEM courses and pursuing STEM careers. Numerical performance, as well as emotional factors such as math anxiety (MA), may influence vocational interests. The constructs of both vocational interests and MA are sensitive to gender differences. Accordingly, this study explored whether the relations among MA, numerical performance, and math vocational interests among middle-school students vary by gender. A sample of 127 ninth-grade students (68 females) performed a computation task and completed MA and trait anxiety (TA) questionnaires. A math vocational interest questionnaire was composed and assessed with an additional sample of 89 ninth-grade students. For females, MA, but not TA or numerical performance, predicted math vocational interest. Those with low MA levels tended to be interested in careers with higher math proficiency such as STEM careers. For males, high numerical performance and low TA, but not MA, related to interest in careers with high math proficiency. Bayes factors indicated that the data strongly supported the theory. The findings support the assumption that high MA levels affect the career plans of female students, whereas low numerical performance can account for both MA levels and future career plans of male students. It is essential to investigate how career aspirations are shaped in young students to promote the choice of STEM careers, especially among underrepresented populations such as females.
Topics: Anxiety; Bayes Theorem; Career Choice; Engineering; Female; Humans; Male; Mathematics
PubMed: 34198037
DOI: 10.1016/j.jecp.2021.105214 -
Cognition & Emotion Nov 2020Current psychological theories of performance anxiety focus heavily on relating performers' physiological and mental states to their abilities to maintain focus and...
Current psychological theories of performance anxiety focus heavily on relating performers' physiological and mental states to their abilities to maintain focus and execute learned skills. How task-specific expertise and past experiences moderate the degree to which individuals become anxious in a given performance context are not well accounted for within these theories. This review considers how individual differences arising from learning may shape the psychobiological, emotional, and cognitive processes that modulate anxious states associated with the performance of highly trained skills. Current approaches to understanding performance anxiety are presented, followed by a critique of these approaches. A connectionist model is proposed as an alternative approach to characterising performance anxiety by viewing performers' anxious states at a specific time point as jointly determined by experience-dependent plasticity, competition between motivational systems, and ongoing cognitive and somatic states. Clarifying how experience-dependent plasticity contributes to the emergence of socio-evaluative anxiety in challenging situations can not only help performers avoid developing maladaptive emotional responses, but may also provide new clues about how memories of past events and imagined future states interact with motivational processes to drive changes in emotional states and cognitive processing.
Topics: Anxiety; Anxiety Disorders; Conditioning, Classical; Emotional Regulation; Emotions; Humans; Learning; Motivation; Performance Anxiety; Psychological Theory
PubMed: 33094692
DOI: 10.1080/02699931.2020.1749568 -
Consciousness and Cognition Sep 2021It is well established that anxiety influences a range of cognitive processes such as cognitive control or decision-making. What is less known is how anxiety influences...
It is well established that anxiety influences a range of cognitive processes such as cognitive control or decision-making. What is less known is how anxiety influences the metacognitive evaluations individuals make about their own performance. The present study explored the importance of task-relatedness in the relation between anxiety and metacognitive awareness. More specifically, we hypothesized that induced anxiety would affect metacognitive performance in opposite directions depending solely on whether the threat is perceived as related or unrelated to the performance. We conducted two experiments to test this hypothesis. In both studies, electric shocks were administered randomly, regardless of participant's performance. In experiment 1, participants were informed that the shocks would be administered randomly, unrelated to performance. In experiment 2, participants were told that their metacognitive performance would influence the administration of the electric shocks (i.e. fewer electric shocks with better metacognitive performance). Our predictions were confirmed. Threat perceived as unrelated to metacognitive performance (Experiment 1) decreased metacognitive performance. Threat believed to be related to metacognitive performance resulted in improved performance (Experiment 2). These findings confirm that induced anxiety exerts a strong influence on metacognitive awareness while sparing first-order task performance. We furthermore demonstrate that the perceived relatedness of the anxiety determines whether metacognitive performance decreases or improves performance under threat.
Topics: Anxiety; Anxiety Disorders; Humans; Metacognition
PubMed: 34388407
DOI: 10.1016/j.concog.2021.103191