Text Anxiety in Elementary School Students: Differences by School Year and Gender

Despite its high prevalence in the academic field, few studies have analyzed text anxiety in the stage of elementary school. The present study had two objectives: firstly, we have sought to determine the subjects that generated greater test anxiety; secondly, we have analyzed differences in test anxiety by school year and gender. A sample of two hundred and fifty students took part in the study (M-age = 9.66; SDage = 1.18), of which 54.4% were women and 45.6% were men. The study of the subjects with greater test anxiety was determined by the Pearson's chi-squared test. Gender and course differences were analyzed by a two-factor ANOVA. The results showed that the subjects that generated more test anxiety were those related to the scientific field. In addition, significantly higher levels of test anxiety were found in the students of the upper grades. No gender differences were found. The interaction between school year and gender was not statistically significant. Some psychological and educational guidelines to reduce or eliminate test anxiety in elementary school students are proposed.