Test Anxiety and its Components For Middle School Students

Psychometric properties were investigated for an adapted 31-item version of the Mandler-Sarason Test Anxiety Scale using 550 students in grades 6-8. Three subscales were created based on common factor analysis with rotation to an oblique solution. The first two factors, "Worry" and "Emotionality", correspond closely to those obtained for adults in other studies. A third factor labeled "Concentration" was also found. Results of cross-validation on 244 students indicate that the construct of test anxiety can be reliably measured for examinees at these grades.