Test Anxiety

Test Anxiety

Some children and adolescents attending school or young adults attending college experience significant anxiety when they are in a test-taking situation. They may experience physical symptoms such as their heart racing, hands sweating, and rapid breathing, along with cognitive symptoms such as difficulty remembering the material and staying focused. Some individuals may even experience their mind “going blank,” impacting their ability to respond to any of the test questions. While some anxiety when taking a test is typical, these individuals are often unable to perform and their achievement in school is negatively impacted.

Test anxiety can be caused by a number of different factors, including negative experiences in testing environments and unhelpful thoughts related to testing (e.g. “If I don’t ace this exam, then really bad things will happen”). Additionally, this anxiety is often exacerbated and maintained through avoidance behaviors that reduce anxiety in the short term, but increase distress over the long term, such as either skipping or over-preparing for tests. Difficulties with anxiety have also been shown to have a genetic component, meaning that people are more likely to struggle with symptoms of anxiety if they have family members who have also had similar difficulties.