Relationship between Metacognition believes and Exam Anxiety: Mediating role of Cognitive Emotion Regulation

The main purpose of this study was to investigate causal relationship between cognitive emotion regulation, metacognition and test anxiety were evaluated in students according to the self-regulatory executive function model of wells and Matthews (1999). Data was analyzed through correlation, structural equation modeling. In this study 1000 students at second and third grade of public, governmental and gifted school were participated from October to November 2015 by cluster random sampling method. The participants completed cognitive emotion regulation inventory (Garnefski et al, 2001), test anxiety inventory (Abolghasemi: et al, 1995) and metacognition questionnaire (Cartwright-Hatton and Wells, 2004). Result of this study showed positive and negative cognitive emotion regulation had a mediating role in the relationship between Meta cognition and test anxiety in student. Metacognition had a direct and indirect effect on test anxiety by mediating role of positive and negative cognitive emotion regulation but negative cognitive emotion regulation had a more effect than positive cognitive emotion regulation in mediating role between meta cognition and test anxiety. To the result, focusing on the cognitive emotion regulation strategies can play on important role in student test anxiety. More interventions based on metacognition and negative cognitive emotion regulation in treatment for pathological test anxiety are suggested.