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Symptoms of Test Anxiety

Physical Symptoms

Physical symptoms of test anxiety include, but are not limited to:

Milder cases of test anxiety can cause a sense of “butterflies” in the stomach, while more severe cases can cause students to become physically ill. People may even vomit or experience diarrhea before a test.

Getting to Know The Physical Symptoms of Anxiety

Emotional symptoms

Emotional symptoms of test anxiety include, but are not limited to:

Students often feel helpless to change their situation. They may belittle and berate themselves for their symptoms and the resulting poor performance on exams.

Cognitive and behavioral symptoms

Cognitive and behavioral symptoms of test anxiety include, but are not limited to:

Test anxiety makes it very difficult to concentrate during an exam. Many people with test anxiety report blanking out on answers to the test even though they thoroughly studied the information and were sure they would know the answers to the questions. Negative self-talk, trouble concentrating on the test, and racing thoughts are also common cognitive symptoms of test anxiety.

How Prevalent Is Test Anxiety?Anxiety disorders tend to be quite common. According to theNational Institute of Mental Health, 19.1 % of U.S. adult had some type of anxiety disorder within the past year. An estimated 31.1% of all U.S. adults will experience at least one anxiety disorder at some point during their lives. Test anxiety is also common, withone studyfinding that anywhere from 10% to 40% of school-age students experience test anxiety.

How Prevalent Is Test Anxiety?

Anxiety disorders tend to be quite common. According to theNational Institute of Mental Health, 19.1 % of U.S. adult had some type of anxiety disorder within the past year. An estimated 31.1% of all U.S. adults will experience at least one anxiety disorder at some point during their lives. Test anxiety is also common, withone studyfinding that anywhere from 10% to 40% of school-age students experience test anxiety.

Causes of Test Anxiety

There are a number of different factors that may lead students to experience anxiety in the face of tests. Research has shown that parents who place a great deal of academic pressure on their children may contribute to test anxiety.Students who feel parental pressure are more likely to experience physical symptoms of anxiety during tests as well as greater worry before and during exams.

Other potential causes of test anxiety include:

Test anxiety can also feed upon itself. Once a student has experienced some level of test anxiety for whatever reason, whether it was due to poor preparation or high external pressure from teachers or parents, they are more likely to experience similar it again in the future. Students may become fearful of experiencing anxiety symptoms, so they then become even more fearful of testing situations.

Students withlearning disabilitiesare also more likely to experience test anxiety.

Treatments

Treatment for test anxiety often involves therapeutic strategies for managing stress levels before and during an exam. Students are often assisted with study techniques and test-taking skills to ensure they have the ability to successfully prepare for and take tests. Helping students to build confidence in their test-taking ability can also be helpful.

Students who have severe anxiety or who experience panic attacks may also be prescribed anti-anxiety medications to help control these symptoms.Cognitive-behavior therapy (CBT), exposure therapy, andmindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR)are psychotherapy approaches that may also be helpful in treating symptoms of test anxiety.

Tips for Coping With Anxiety

Ways to Help Overcome Test Anxiety

There are also steps students can take to alleviate the unpleasant and oftentimes harmful symptoms of test anxiety on their own.

Ways to help yourself manage and overcome test anxiety include, but are not limited to:

Top 10 Stress Management Techniques for Students

Reminder

While many students are able to manage test anxiety on their own, remember there are resources available that can help. If you or your child need extra support, make an appointment with a school counselor, doctor, or mental health professional.

10 Signs Your Teen Is Stressed Out

2 SourcesVerywell Mind uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.Putwain DW, Woods KA, Symes W. Personal and situational predictors of test anxiety of students in post-compulsory education.Br J Educ Psychol. 2010;80(10). doi:10.1348/000709909X466082Nelson JM, Harwood H. Learning disabilities and anxiety: a meta-analysis. J Learn Disabil. 2011;44(1):3-17.Additional ReadingNational Institute of Mental Health.Statistics: Any anxiety disorder. 2017.Nelson, JM & Harwood, H.Learning disabilities and anxiety: A meta-analysis.Journal of Learning Disabilities. 2010; 44(1): 3-17. doi: 10.1177/0022219409359939.

2 Sources

Verywell Mind uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.Putwain DW, Woods KA, Symes W. Personal and situational predictors of test anxiety of students in post-compulsory education.Br J Educ Psychol. 2010;80(10). doi:10.1348/000709909X466082Nelson JM, Harwood H. Learning disabilities and anxiety: a meta-analysis. J Learn Disabil. 2011;44(1):3-17.Additional ReadingNational Institute of Mental Health.Statistics: Any anxiety disorder. 2017.Nelson, JM & Harwood, H.Learning disabilities and anxiety: A meta-analysis.Journal of Learning Disabilities. 2010; 44(1): 3-17. doi: 10.1177/0022219409359939.

Verywell Mind uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.

Putwain DW, Woods KA, Symes W. Personal and situational predictors of test anxiety of students in post-compulsory education.Br J Educ Psychol. 2010;80(10). doi:10.1348/000709909X466082Nelson JM, Harwood H. Learning disabilities and anxiety: a meta-analysis. J Learn Disabil. 2011;44(1):3-17.

Putwain DW, Woods KA, Symes W. Personal and situational predictors of test anxiety of students in post-compulsory education.Br J Educ Psychol. 2010;80(10). doi:10.1348/000709909X466082

Nelson JM, Harwood H. Learning disabilities and anxiety: a meta-analysis. J Learn Disabil. 2011;44(1):3-17.

National Institute of Mental Health.Statistics: Any anxiety disorder. 2017.Nelson, JM & Harwood, H.Learning disabilities and anxiety: A meta-analysis.Journal of Learning Disabilities. 2010; 44(1): 3-17. doi: 10.1177/0022219409359939.

National Institute of Mental Health.Statistics: Any anxiety disorder. 2017.

Nelson, JM & Harwood, H.Learning disabilities and anxiety: A meta-analysis.Journal of Learning Disabilities. 2010; 44(1): 3-17. doi: 10.1177/0022219409359939.

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