Associations Between Metacognitive Beliefs and Test Anxiety Among Middle School Students

Researchers propose that metacognitive beliefs are important to test anxiety. However, the relevance of metacognitive beliefs to test anxiety among middle school students, a group of students particularly impacted by test anxiety, remains unexamined. Moreover, interrelations between metacognitive beliefs and a multidimensional conceptualization of test anxiety (i.e., cognitive, autonomic reactions, and behavioral responses) have not yet been examined. Those gaps in the extant literature were addressed in the present study among a sample of eighth-grade students (N = 158). As predicted, metacognitive beliefs generally shared positive moderate-to-strong correlations with each test anxiety dimension. In multivariate analyses, only negative metacognitive beliefs (i.e., beliefs about the uncontrollability and danger of worry) shared an association with test anxiety and a similar pattern of results emerged across each test anxiety dimension. Results provide further indication that metacognitive beliefs are relevant to test anxiety, with negative metacognitive beliefs appearing particularly important. Study implications for prevention and treatment efforts are discussed. What is the significance of this article for the general public? Middle school aged students commonly experience test anxiety, with test anxiety relating to diminished academic achievement and emotional well-being. The present results indicate that metacognitive beliefs, particularly beliefs about the danger and uncontrollability of worry, are relevant to test anxiety among middle school aged students. Future prevention and treatment efforts for test anxiety may benefit from attending to those metacognitive beliefs.