Test Anxiety and its Relationship with Academic Performance among Nursing Students

Test anxiety, a common phenomenon among college students, is one of the problems of educational systems. Because test anxiety affects academic performance, this study was performed to determine test anxiety and its relationship with academic performance among nursing students. In this descriptive- analytical study, 150 students of Abadan Nursing College were selected in 2007. Data were collected via a two-component questionnaire including demographic data and the test anxiety inventory that were completed self-directedly during the final exams. The data were analyzed by SPSS (13.0) software, using some measures of central tendency and variability, Mann Whitney test and Spearman correlation coefficient. The mean score of test anxiety in students was 30.9± 23.2. Fourteen percent of participants did not have any test anxiety, 48.67% had low test anxiety, 34% had moderate test anxiety and 3.33% had severe test anxiety. In sum, 86% had some degrees of test anxiety. In this study, no significant relationship was found between test anxiety and academic performance (r= -0.12, p= 0.13), nor between test anxiety and age (P= 0.84,), nor between test anxiety and marital status (P=0.053), nor between test anxiety and level of education (P=0.057). Regarding the high prevalence of test anxiety in students, far further research is recommended to identify factors relevant to this phenomenon and to present strategies to reduce it.