Anxiety and metacognitions: A structural analysis

Abstract

This study is based on a previous analysis that supported only weak predictions of test-anxiety components by metacognitive concepts such as problem-solving and action control. To explore this dependency further, a more comprehensive variable from the anxiety domain is introduced, namely social anxiety. In a linear structural model, metacognitive variables are specified as precursors of test-anxiety components, whereas social anxiety is introduced as a mediator. Based on data from 262 German high-school students, a satisfactory fit of the model was attained. The finding replicates previous results and clarifies that the weak relationships are incorporated in a network of strong indirect paths leading from metacognitions to test anxiety. The results suggest that social anxiety may be the source from which aspects of test anxiety emerge.

Key Words:

• Social anxiety
• test anxiety
• metacognitions
• problem-solving
• action control
• linear structural analysis