Anxiety in children - exam anxiety and academic achievement

Anxiety in children - exam anxiety and academic achievement

  Anxiety

Anxiety is a widespread concept despite the different causes, conditions, and events that surround it from one person to another, and due to the daily life circumstances that a person faces. Like exposure to new experiences and experiences, the need to make some fateful decisions, and other circumstances in general, everyone is exposed to going through a state of anxiety from time to time.

Anxiety often appears in the individual when he is about to enter into risky experiences, in which the need to overcome various challenges appears easily and successfully, so anxiety is a natural reaction and response, but if the anxiety attacks last for a long time, and in an exaggerated manner with some stimuli being amplified, which leads to To the emergence of inappropriate responses, anxiety will negatively affect the continuation of the individual's life with normal and stable thanks.

Anxiety in children

Childhood anxiety is the child's fear of the unknown, which is represented in a group of self-motivations such as aggression and types of desires. Often these motives result in behaviors that face punishment and reprimand, thus curbing the child's desire to express them. These motives do not die, but rather remain latent in the child's psyche. So that it remains arousable, and if it is summoned, the child lives in a state of fear of the punishment that he may receive, but he is ignorant of the reason for this fear and cannot explain it, which makes him in a state of general anxiety, and the reasons for the emergence of this anxiety in children are many, and from These reasons:

•      Child loss of safety and security.
•      Fluctuation in the treatment of the child by educators in educational institutions, and parents at home
•      Abnormal family upbringings methods, such as neglect, constant criticism by parents, and their constant talking about their children in front of others and within earshot of the child.
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Treating anxiety in children

It is possible to help an anxious child overcome his anxiety, or prevent a normal child from experiencing anxiety in many ways, including:

•      Training him in relaxation skills.
•      Helping and training the child to use strategies that help him combat anxiety; Such as asking to think about happy and calm experiences and situations, guiding him when he is exposed to various problems, and helping him to choose the appropriate aspects and ways to solve them.
•      Encourage the child to vent his emotions and express his feelings.

Exam anxiety and achievement

Both exam anxiety and achievement anxiety can be defined as follows:

Achievement anxiety

Achievement anxiety is the feeling that accompanies the student while he is exposed to situations and problems related to the educational or school environment. It is an emotional psychological state represented in many dimensions and circumstances. Such as the psychological pressures that accompany the student during the study process, such as anxiety, tension, loss of focus, and fear, as the anxiety of achievement appears on the student through many abnormal physiological responses and disorders, such as fatigue, fatigue, and loss of appetite, in addition to feelings of fear and dread. From the teacher or professor, and the fear of confronting him. Achievement anxiety also appears in the form of a group of pressures and psychological disorders that accompany the individual before the examination period, and the accompanying fear, tension, and confusion.

Exam anxiety

Exam anxiety is a general anxiety that is accompanied by an emotional state characterized by tension and fear, affecting the individual at different stages. This is when anxiety moves from the stage of positive and motivational motivation, exerting effort and striving for more achievements and successes, to an abnormal and abnormal stage, when its symptoms stand in the way of the student’s stability and success before and during the evaluation or success stage.

Psychologists have talked about the close relationship between the phenomenon of anxiety and the learning process. Where the results of some studies showed that some students showed their level less than the level of their true capabilities during the evaluation process, due to their exposure to some situations or circumstances that are characterized by an atmosphere of tension and psychological pressure, such as the individual’s passage of the test process; Students may show signs of restlessness and stress, which is commonly called test anxiety.

Components of exam anxiety and achievement

The elements of achievement and test anxiety and its components are as follows:

•   The cognitive component: It is called continuous discomfort, and the student’s constant preoccupation with thinking a lot about the consequences of his failure, if it happened. This discomfort is followed by the fear of losing the individual’s status and self-esteem, and this is a characteristic of anxiety.
•   The emotional component: It is the individual's emotional responses that appear with distress, unease, and bouts of tension and panic before and during the exam, in addition to many emotional physiological symptoms.

Symptoms of exam anxiety and achievement

Achievement and exam anxiety show many different symptoms in the student, including:

•      Difficulty sleeping, insomnia, tension, and the predominance of some obsessive thoughts in the pre-exam stage and during the collection period.
•      Some physiological symptoms such as rapid heartbeat, dry throat, and lips, profuse sweating, abdominal pain, and shortness of breath.
•      Disorder of the performance of mental processes, such as focus, thinking, and remembering.
•      The distraction of attention decreased the ability to focus and remember information when needed, whether in exams or different educational situations.

Reducing the negative effects of exam anxiety and achievement

Some psychologists and counselors suggested some practical measures and steps; To reduce, as much as possible, the negative effects of achievement and exam anxiety, and among these measures are the following:

•      Helping the individual understand himself, others, and the problems around him.
•      Provide the necessary guidance to the individual; To raise his level of self-confidence and self-esteem, and his sense of security.
•      Continuous training on the relaxation process, such as breathing and imagination exercises.
•      Training in the use of positive motivational vocabulary, and avoiding negative self-discourse.
•      Encouraging the student to invest and make proper and fruitful use of time, maintain sound study habits, and try to overcome sound study habits that help his psychological stability.
•      Practice emotional release; Playing games, role-playing, and more.