Adolescent Stress: Preparing for High-Stakes Tests

Abstract

Tests with serious consequences are known to cause test anxiety, and thus are widely investigated. Competitive entrance exams are sources of stress for the students in Turkey—a developing country with a very young population. Exams are experienced as a long process for the whole family as they require a thorough preparation. In most studies, test anxiety is operationalized as a feeling when person confronts an evaluative situation. Nevertheless, important tests have long preparation periods that may be as stressful as confronting the tests. The anxiety experienced during the preparation can be coined as preparation anxiety. The main interest of the present study has been to substitute preparation anxiety for test anxiety in a transactional model of test anxiety and to investigate its relationship with appraisal, coping and outcome.

Keywords

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References

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