title: Test anxiety levels of board exam going students in Tamil Nadu, India.
abstract: The latest report by the National Crime Records Bureau has positioned Tamil Nadu as the Indian state with highest suicide rate. At least in part, this is happening due to exam pressure among adolescents, emphasizing the imperative need to understand the pattern of anxiety and various factors contributing to it among students. The present study was conducted to analyze the level of state anxiety among board exam attending school students in Tamil Nadu, India. A group of 100 students containing 50 boys and 50 girls from 10th and 12th grades participated in the study and their state anxiety before board exams was measured by Westside Test Anxiety Scale. We found that all board exam going students had increased level of anxiety, which was particularly higher among boys and 12th standard board exam going students. Analysis of various demographic variables showed that students from nuclear families presented higher anxiety levels compared to their desired competitive group. Overall, our results showing the prevalence of state anxiety among board exam going students in Tamil Nadu, India, support the recent attempt taken by Tamil Nadu government to improve student's academic performance in a healthier manner by appointing psychologists in all government schools.
authors.affiliation: Mohamed Sathak A.J. College of Nursing, Chennai, Tamil Nadu 600 001, India ; Life and Health Sciences Research Institute (ICVS), School of Health Sciences, University of Minho, 4710-057 Braga, Portugal ; ICVS/3B's, PT Government Associate Laboratory, Braga, Guimarães, Portugal.
authors.forename: Revina Ann
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Mary
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Biologia (CITAB-UM), Universidade do Minho, 4710-057 Braga, Portugal.
authors.forename: Gregory
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Marslin
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Biologia (CITAB-UM), Universidade do Minho, 4710-057 Braga, Portugal.
authors.forename: Gregory
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Franklin
authors.affiliation: Life and Health Sciences Research Institute (ICVS), School of Health Sciences, University of Minho, 4710-057 Braga, Portugal ; ICVS/3B's, PT Government Associate Laboratory, Braga, Guimarães, Portugal ; Regenerative Medicine Program, Medicine and Biomedical Sciences Department, University of Algarve, 8005-139 Faro, Portugal ; Institute for Biotechnology and Bioengineering (IBB), Centre for Molecular and Structural Biomedicine (CBME), University of Algarve, 8005-139 Faro, Portugal.
authors.forename: Caroline J
authors.initials: CJ
authors.lastname: Sheeba
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D001007:Anxiety / Q000523:psychology*; D003710:Demography; D004521:Educational Measurement; D005190:Family; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007194:India; D007802:Language; D008297:Male; D012067:Religion; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D013732:Test Anxiety Scale