How to Fight Test Anxiety?

Test anxiety is a negative emotion that prevents the individual from using the knowledge he/she has previously acquired sufficiently during the exam and causes a decrease in the individual's academic success. Recognizing and coping with the anxiety caused by exams, which affect the lives of many individuals and are frequently used as an evaluation method in our country, is very important in terms of increasing academic success.

For this reason, before the university exam, which concerns millions of students and their families next weekend, Dr. Lecturer from Istanbul Altınbaş University Psychology Department. Prof. Dr. Esra Gül Koçyiğit made definitions about anxiety and exam anxiety and discussed various factors that cause exam anxiety. Prof. Dr. Lecturer. Prof. Dr. Esra Gül Koçyiğit also said that test anxiety is related to more than one factor and listed the methods of coping with this anxiety and gave suggestions on how to approach parents, one of the factors affecting test anxiety.

Stating that exam anxiety is a common problem affecting many students and that there are various factors that play a role in the formation of this anxiety, Dr. Lecturer. Prof. Dr. Esra Gül Koçyiğit listed the main factors as follows: 

COGNITIVE FACTORS

-Competence Belief: An individual's belief in his/her ability to succeed in the exam affects the level of anxiety. Low competence beliefs lead to higher anxiety.
-Decision Making Skills: The ability to make correct decisions during the exam helps to reduce anxiety levels.
-Learning Approach: Regular and planned studying is effective in reducing test anxiety.

PERSONALITY TRAITS 

Stating that personality traits are also among these factors, Koçyiğit continued as follows:

-Self-Esteem: Individuals with high self-esteem can cope better with test anxiety.
-Personality Traits: Extroverted, responsible and emotionally balanced individuals have lower levels of anxiety.
-Perfectionism: Negative perfectionism increases test anxiety.
-Level of Hope: A high level of hope helps to cope with test anxiety.

OTHER FACTORS

Koçyiğit also included other factors other than the above and ranked them as follows:

-Gender: Research shows that female students experience more test anxiety than male students.
-Success Level: As the level of achievement increases, the level of anxiety decreases.
-Class Level: As the grade level increases, test anxiety also increases.
-Family Attitude: While democratic family attitude decreases test anxiety, authoritarian attitude increases anxiety.
-Teacher Approach: Teachers who give negative and stressful information about the exam may trigger anxiety.
-Study Habits: Regular and efficient study habits reduce test anxiety.
-Psychological Resilience: Individuals with high coping skills can cope better with test anxiety.

WHAT ARE THE SYMPTOMS OF TEST ANXIETY, HOW TO RECOGNIZE IT?

Dr. Lecturer from Altınbaş University. Prof. Dr. Esra Gül Koçyiğit shared the symptoms of test anxiety experienced by children as an example and stated that the symptoms can appear as physical, intellectual, cognitive and behavioral. Koçyiğit continued her words as follows:
“As physical symptoms, we can give examples of trembling hands, heart palpitations, sweating, headache, stomach pain, nausea, rapid breathing, muscle spasms, dizziness, chest tightness. Intellectual symptoms include tension, uneasiness, fear, anxiety and anger. Cognitive symptoms include difficulty concentrating, distraction, difficulty organizing thoughts, difficulty remembering information. In addition, postponing studying, not taking the exam (avoidance), being interested in other activities, stopping studying halfway (avoidance), anger, insomnia, overeating or loss of appetite can be considered as behavioral symptoms.” 

METHODS OF COPING WITH TEST ANXIETY 

Reducing high levels of test anxiety is necessary both to increase students' academic performance and to protect them from the negative consequences of anxiety. In this sense, Koçyiğit listed the coping methods for test anxiety item by item as follows: 

-Physical exercise: Regular exercise such as walking, jogging, cycling and swimming is effective in reducing anxiety.
-Sleep patterns: Getting enough and quality sleep is important in reducing anxiety and stress.
-Nutrition: Eating a healthy and balanced diet helps to improve mood.
-Relaxation exercises: Relaxation exercises such as yoga, meditation, breathing exercises are effective in reducing anxiety and stress.
-Responding to irrational thoughts: Individuals with high test anxiety have a negative evaluation of themselves in situations related to the exam. These individuals have internal thoughts of failure and irrational self-talk. Some of such negative thoughts are; “I cannot focus.” “I cannot understand what I read”, “I will definitely fail”, “Everyone is smarter and more successful than me”, “If I fail this exam, I will never recover my grades again”, “Everything will be very bad at the end of the exam”, “I will not be able to do it”. It is necessary to respond to such negative thoughts in different ways.

Expressions such as “I believe in you”, “You will be successful” may increase anxiety in some children

Finally, Koçyiğit stated that parents are also an effective factor in anxiety, and that anxiety is a contagious emotion and that the family should take this anxiety under control in this sense, and at the point where they have difficulty in getting it under control, they need the support of a specialist. Koçyiğit continued his advice to parents:
“Anxiety may not always be expressed verbally. It can also be expressed nonverbally, that is, through body language. Environments should be created where the child can express his/her anxiety. Families should talk with the child and develop a joint action plan together. The academic performance of the student should be determined with realistic criteria. Expectations from the individual should be formed in this direction. The family should also support the child with constructive sentences and avoid negative expressions. It should be remembered that each individual has unique characteristics and should not be compared with others. They should be told that this is only an exam and certainly not something that evaluates personality. They should be told that losing as well as winning is normal and that this is a part of life. In some children, statements such as 'I believe in you', 'You will be successful' may have a negative effect and increase anxiety in the child. Therefore, in such cases it may be more appropriate to say something like. “You may need to try more than once.