Student anxiety toward level II fieldwork.
The State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) purports to measure two types of anxiety: state anxiety, fluctuating and transitory; and trait anxiety, a relatively stable proneness to apprehension. As part of a battery of measures comparing a new occupational therapy curriculum with an old curriculum being discontinued, the STAI was administered to separate groups of students from each curriculum completing their programs concurrently. The primary purpose of the anxiety study was to test the hypothesis that students with an early introduction to Level I fieldwork (the new curriculum) would have significantly less state anxiety in anticipation of Level II fieldwork than students with a later introduction to Level I fieldwork (the old curriculum). Statistical analysis failed to support the hypothesis. Also discussed are: the significant reduction in anticipated anxiety when students report for fieldwork, and the validity and reliability of the STAI.
D000328:Adult; D001007:Anxiety; D003479:Curriculum; D005069:Evaluation Studies as Topic; D006801:Humans; D007396:Internship and Residency; D008016:Life Change Events; D009788:Occupational Therapy / Q000193:education*; D013336:Students, Health Occupations / Q000523:psychology*