The Effect of Temperament and Attachment Type on Adolescent Test Anxiety

Kim, So Youn; Lee, Young Sik; Han, Doug Hyun; Naam, Taak; Ko, Bock Ja

Abstract

OBJECTIVES
Through mass survey with Seoul School Health Center, this study was performed to find out any correlational factors that affect test anxiety in individual's temperament and attachment type among middle and high school students in Seoul.
METHODS
Subjects were 4,178 students from 6 middle schools, 5 high schools and 1 technical high school in this study from May to June, 2005. Test Anxiety Inventory (TAI) by Spielberger, Revised Adult Attachment Scale (RAAS) by Collins and Read and Junior Temperament Character Inventory (JTCI) by Ludy were used in this study.
RESULTS
Among 4 groups by sex and age, high school girls had the highest level of test anxiety and high school boys had the lowest level of test anxiety. The attachment subscore showed no significant differences in four groups. High school girls had higher social susceptibility but had lower novelty seeking subscores than high school boys. Middle school students revealed no meaningful differences of temperament between sex. Compared to low test anxiety group, high test anxiety group showed significantly high anxiety subscores in attachment scale and high harm avoidance subscores in temperament scale. However, the results of other three subscores of temperament and two subscores of attachment were reversed. Anxiety subscore of attachment and harm avoidance subscore of temperament positively correlated with test anxiety score (r=0.26, r=0.32). However, other subscores negatively correlated with test anxiety score and the correlation coefficient scores were very low.
CONCLUSION
We concluded that, in temperament and attachment aspect, the most important factor affecting test anxiety was harm avoidance temperament and the next important factor was anxious attachment.