Test anxiety in mathematics for fourth grade elementary school children: development and interaction with achievement and self-concept

Abstract

This article reviews the relationship between test anxiety and achievement from the end of third to the end of fourth grade of German elementary school classes in math, and whether academic self-concept predicts the relationship between these two factors. The sample consists of N = 725 students. While correlational stability of test anxiety was moderate, we found a slight decline within fourth grade. Cross-lagged-panel analysis demonstrates a reciprocal effect between test anxiety and performance. When replicating this analysis for a priori identified latent classes (relatively low, medium, and high self-concept), the results revealed a more complex picture: children with lower academic self-concepts develop higher test anxiety which increases over time, and in this group, achievement is a negative predictor for test anxiety. Children with higher levels of academic self-concept however report lower test anxiety, which decreases over time and test anxiety is a negative predictor of future achievement. No changes in test anxiety and longitudinal relationships with achievement occur for the group reporting medium academic self-concepts.