Academic Anxiety among Secondary School Students in Relation to their Study Involvement and Self-Confidence

The present study aimed to examine the levels, relationships, and predictors of academic anxiety among secondary school students in the Indian context. A stratified random sample of 240 students (Grades 8–10) was drawn to ensure equal representation across gender, medium of instruction, type of school, and location. Standardized tools, namely the Academic Anxiety Scale, Study Involvement Scale, and Self-Confidence Inventory, were administered. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, t-tests, one-way ANOVA, Tukey HSD, Pearson correlations, and multiple regression. Findings revealed that academic anxiety significantly increases with grade level, with Grade 10 students showing the highest anxiety, accompanied by lower study involvement and self-confidence. ANOVA results confirmed strong grade differences (η² = 0.22 for anxiety), while post-hoc tests indicated significant pairwise differences across all three grades. Correlation analysis showed that academic anxiety had strong negative associations with both study involvement (r = −0.631) and self-confidence (r = −0.639). Regression results demonstrated that study involvement and self-confidence were significant independent predictors of academic anxiety, together explaining about 60% of its variance, whereas gender, medium, school type, and location were not significant predictors. The study concludes that psychological factors such as involvement and confidence play a more crucial role in shaping academic anxiety than demographic factors. Educational implications include designing interventions to enhance study engagement and build self-confidence, especially among Grade 10 students facing examination pressures.