Assessing the Multi-faceted Nature of Test Anxiety Among Secondary School Students: An English Version of the German Test Anxiety Questionnaire: PAF-E

ABSTRACT

The current study concerns the validation of an English version of the German Test Anxiety Inventory, namely the PAF-E. This questionnaire is a multi-faceted measure of test anxiety designed to detect normative test anxiety levels and in consequence meet the need of consultancy. Construct and criterion validity of (PAF-E) were examined with a sample of 96 secondary students (Mage = 12.8, SD = 0.67; 55% girls) from an international school in Berlin (Germany) and 399 secondary students (Mage = 13.4, SD = 0.80; 56% girls) from Montréal (Canada). Both samples completed the PAF-E and related constructs, such as school-related self-efficacy, inhibitory test anxiety, achievement motivation, and the Big Five. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses confirmed the four-factor-structure (worry, emotionality, interfering thoughts, lack of confidence) of the original German Test Anxiety Inventory (PAF). Each subscale consists of five items with a total of 20 questions. Cronbach's alpha, ranging from.71 to.82 among Germans and.77 to.87 among Canadians as well as the re-test reliability (from.80 to.85 among Canadians) were sufficient. The differential patterns of correlations between other constructs and the indices of test anxiety indicate good construct validity.

Keywords:

• assessment
• English version of the German Test Anxiety Inventory: PAF-E
• secondary school students
• test anxiety

Author Notes

Frances Hoferichter is a PhD student at the Free University of Berlin, Germany at the Department of Educational Science and Psychology. She is a research assistant working in the project SELF (socio-emotional learning factors) and scholar of the Konrad-Adenauer Foundation. Her current research interests involve educational issues, including test anxiety, stress, motivation, achievement, social relationships in school as well as cross-national research.

Diana Raufelder is professor for school pedagogy at the Institute of Education of the Ernst-Moritz-Arndt University in Greifswald, Germany. Her current research interests are motivation and learning processes in adolescence, teacher–student relationship, student–student relationship, test anxiety, and socio-emotional support in school context. Thereby she is following an interdisciplinary approach combining education, psychology, and neuroscience in a triangulative way.

Tobias Ringeisen holds a position as tenured professor for key qualifications and competence development of the University of Merseburg, Germany. He is mainly interested in the link between competence enhancement and stress, anxiety and enjoyment, covering areas like schooling, human resources management, and intercultural diversity.

Sonja Rohrmann is professor for Personality Psychology and Psychology Diagnostics at the Institute of Psychology of the Goethe-University Frankfurt, Germany. Her research focus lies on anxiety, stress, and emotion regulation, where basic research is combined with application.

William M. Bukowski is a Professor and University Research Chair in Early Adolescent Development in the Department of Psychology of Concordia University in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. He is also the Director of the Centre de recherche en développement humain. His research program is concerned with the features and effects of children's and early adolescents’ experiences with their peers.

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank the principals, teachers, and students for their cooperation in making these studies possible.

Funding

This work was supported by a grant from the Volkswagen Foundation (Schumpeter Fellowship, II/84 452) and the Konrad-Adenauer Foundation.