Test Anxiety and Academic Competence: A Comparison of Alternative Models

The ability of 3 theoretical models to explain the academic performance and test anxiety of 178 undergraduates was compared. The cognitive-attentional model includes negative thoughts and underlying concerns. The cognitive-skills model also includes study habits. The social learning model includes self-efficacy and outcome expectations as well as goal-related motivation. In hierarchical regressions, variable sets from all models added unique variance to explain performance and to explain test anxiety. Cognitive-attentional processes emerged as relatively more important than academic skills or social learning processes, though the latter sets did contribute significantly. It is recommended that cognitive-attentional accounts be replaced by multiple-deficit formulations, and that multimodal counseling address cognitive, skills, and social learning processes.