Ansiedad ante los exámenesestudio psicométrico y de validación de un nuevo instrumento para ESO y Bachillerato

Resumen

Objective Test anxiety (TA) is the relatively stable tendency to generate a disproportionate emotional response in academic assessment situations, due to concern about poor performance and possible negative consequences (Balogun, Balogun y Onyencho, 2017; Putwain y Simes, 2018). The objective of the doctoral thesis was to provide the psychometric study and empirical validation of the Test Anxiety Questionnaire (Valero, 1999) for ESO and/or Baccalaureate students, between 12 and 18 years old. Methodology A total of 1,181 students from 12 to 18 years old (M = 14.7 and SD = 1.8) participated, of whom 569 were boys (48.2%) and 612 girls (51.8%). Test Anxiety Questionnaire-Adapted an adaptation for Spanish secondary school levels (ESO) and Baccalaureate were administered. The measurement scales were the following: State-Trait Anxiety Inventory for Children, STAI-C; Spielberger et al., 1990), Spanish adaptation of Seisdedos (1990), State-Trait Anxiety Inventory, STAI; Spielberg et al., 1970, Spanish adaptation of Buela-Casal et al., (2011), “Inventory of school fears-form III” (IME-A; García-Fernández and Méndez, 2007), “School Anxiety Inventory” (IAES; García-Fernández et al., 2011), (State-Trait Depression Questionnaire; Ritterband y Spielberger, 1996), Spanish adaptation of Agudelo et al., (2005) and sociodemographic questionnaire. To study the ability to detect possible changes in the anxiety response to exams with the CAEX-Adapted scale; a cognitive-behavioral psychological intervention program was developed consisting of 10 sessions. 32 students participated, randomly distributed in the experimental group and in the control group with 16 participants. The 2 groups were made up of 6 boys (37.5%) and 10 girls (62.5%). Results Three factors were identified: Physiological anxiety, Avoidance behavior and Cognitive response to exams, which explained 53% of the total variance. The level of internal consistency on the subscales and of the total was .90, .49 and .94, respectively. The Omega coefficient was .85 or higher on every subscale. Also, Test-retest reliability ranged from .52 to .87. Furthermore, the convergent and discriminant validity of the CAEX-A was adequate. Girls scored higher on the cognitive and physiological components of test anxiety than boys, the intensity of the physiological response increasing with age. Baccalaureate level students reported more physiological anxiety than those of ESO level. Students with better grades in the previous year presented more physiological anxiety, while the cognitive and avoidance components were more present in those with lower grades. Participants reported that the three types of tests that cause them the most anxiety were oral tests in front of the class, mathematics tests, and essay tests. The post-treatment total scores on the CAEX-Adapted and on the physiological, cognitive and avoidance responses subscales of the experimental group decreased significantly compared to the pre-treatment scores and compared to the pre-treatment scores of the control group. Conclusion The CAEX-A has appropriated psychometric properties and can be used for the psychological assessment of test anxiety in Spanish students from 12 to 18 years of age. The relevance is highlighted of the physiological component of test anxiety in adolescents and the implication of the variables studied. The CAEX-Adapted detected changes in the scores of the participants in the experimental group and the absence of relevant changes in the scores of the control group.