The prevalence and dynamics of the test anxiety in foreign students before and within COVID-19 pandemic in Ukraine
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.12775/JEHS.2023.47.01.005Keywords
medical education, graduates, test anxiety, COVID-19 pandemic, academic performanceAbstract
Test anxiety (TA) is a psychological condition of a person’s distress before, during, or after a test or other assessment. The prevalence and dynamics of TA before and after COVID-19 pandemic in foreign graduate medical students in Bukovinian State Medical University (Ukraine) was investigated. After receiving informed consent 6 year foreign students: 234 on the eve of COVID-19 pandemic and 74 students in spring 2023 anonymously filled in the TA questionnaire (Sarason I.G., 1980), total points ≥ 12 signified presence of TA. The average level of TA before COVID-19 pandemic was 6,3±2,8 points, while later in 2023 it increased significantly to 8,0±3,8 points, p<0,01. In 2023 more than 70% of students answered that they “feel very panicky when they have to take a surprise exam” and more than 30% of graduates when taking tests, find that “their emotional feelings interfere with their performance”. More than 48% of students answered, that they “find themselves thinking of the consequences of failing during test”. Physical manifestations of TA included positive answer for the question “I sometimes feel my heart beating very fast during important examinations” in 74% of students and in 38% of cases students struggle with excessive perspiration. Around 30% of students “usually get depressed” or deal with any gastrointestinal problems after important tests. Totally in 2023 34% of examined students demonstrated borderline or present TA as compared to 15% before (p<0,02). Thus, TA causing somatic and/or psychological distress is present in every third medical foreign student and has significantly increased within COVID-19 pandemic period in Ukraine, that’s why it deserves more attention.
References
Abdulghani, H. M., Sattar, K., Ahmad, T., & Akram, A. (2020). Association of COVID-19 pandemic with undergraduate medical students' perceived stress and coping. Psychology research and behavior management, 871-881.
Allen, G. J., Elias, M. J., & Zlotlow, S. F. (1980). Behavioral interventions for alleviating test anxiety: A methodological overview of current therapeutic practices. In I. G. Sarason (Ed.), Test anxiety: Theory, research, and applications (pp. 155–186). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
Alsaady, I., Gattan, H., Zawawi, A., Alghanmi, M., & Zakai, H. (2020). Impact of COVID-19 crisis on exam anxiety levels among bachelor level university students. Mediterranean Journal of Social Sciences, 11(5), 33-33.
Bayrak G., Özdemir H., Baş Aslan U., Yağcı N. Does the Covid-19 lockdown affect pain and anxiety in high school seniors and high school graduates preparing for the university exam? Psychology in the Schools 60 (9), 3228-3239. https://doi.org/10.1002/pits.22913
Busetta, G., Campolo, M.G., Fiorillo, F. et al. Effects of COVID-19 lockdown on university students’ anxiety disorder in Italy. Genus 77, 25 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1186/s41118-021-00135-5
Choi, B., Jegatheeswaran, L., Minocha, A. et al. The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on final year medical students in the United Kingdom: a national survey. BMC Med Educ 20, 206 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12909-020-02117-1
Farcașiu, C. F., & Andrei, O. C. (2021). Test anxiety in dental medical students during COVID-19 pandemic. Romanian Journal of Oral Rehabilitation, 13(2).
Kaul, V., Gallo de Moraes, A., Khateeb, D., Greenstein, Y., Winter, G., Chae, J., Stewart, N. H., Qadir, N., & Dangayach, N. S. (2021). Medical Education During the COVID-19 Pandemic. Chest, 159 (5), 1949–1960. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chest.2020.12.026
Li Y, Peng J, Tao Y. Relationship between social support, coping strategy against COVID-19, and anxiety among home-quarantined Chinese university students: A path analysis modeling approach. Curr Psychol. 2023;42(13):10629-10644. doi: 10.1007/s12144-021-02334-x. Epub 2021 Oct 4. PMID: 34629830; PMCID: PMC8487756.
Mashayekh M, Hashemi M. Recognizing, Reducing and Copying with Test Anxiety: Causes, Solutions and Recommendations. Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences. 2011; (30): 2149 – 2155.
Mastour H., Moodi Ghalibaf A., & Niroumand S. (2022). Remote Online Test Anxiety during the Coronavirus Disease 2019 Crisis: A Cross-Sectional Study among Medical Students. Iranian Red Crescent Medical Journal, 24(3). https://doi.org/10.32592/ircmj.2022.24.3.1645
Monaghan, A. M. (2020). Medical Teaching and Assessment in the Era of COVID-19. Journal of Medical Education and Curricular Development, 7, 2382120520965255.
Odintsova T. A., Kopchak O. O., Bachinskaya N. Y., Ivniev B. B., & Pokanevych O. V. (2022). Pros and cons of remote medical education in Ukraine in terms of COVID-19 pandemics. Informatics in Medicine Unlocked, 32, 101051.
Sadaf, S., Ishtiqa, S., Jahan, M., Farooq, F., & Mushtaque, S. (2022). Examination Stress During COVID-19 and Its Coping Interventions Used by Medical Students of Pakistan. Pakistan Armed Forces Medical Journal, 72(3), 1069-73.
Shaheen A, Azam F, Rabbani MW, Kazmi N. Correlation of computer-based test anxiety with medical students' performance before, during and after assessments. Pak J Med Sci. 2022 Mar-Apr;38(3Part-I):476-480. doi: 10.12669/pjms.38.3.4989. PMID: 35480517; PMCID: PMC9002404.
Sheykhangafshe F.B., Azimi E. Student Online Test Anxiety During the Coronavirus 2019 Pandemic (2022) Journal of Medical Education and Development 16(4):300-302. DOI:10.18502/jmed.v16i4.8581
Skwirczyńska E, Kozłowski M, Nowak K, et al. Anxiety Assessment in Polish Students during the Russian–Ukrainian War. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. 2022; 19 (20): 13284. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph192013284
Szczesniak, L. A., & Lovett, B. J. (2022). Addressing Test Anxiety in the COVID-19 Pandemic and Beyond. Communique, 50(6), 29-31.
Tavajjohi M., Tamannaeifar M. (2023). Relationship between Coping Strategies and Social Support with Students' Test Anxiety in the Covid-19 Pandemic: The Mediating Role of Academic Resilience. Clinical Psychology and Personality, 20(2), 149-163.
Wu J., Zhang R., Qiu W., Shen J., Ma J., Chai Y., ... & Zhou W. (2021). Impact of online closed-book examinations on medical students’ pediatric exam performance and test anxiety during the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic. Pediatr Med, 4, 1.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2023 Nataliia Bogutska, Victoria Khilchevska
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
The periodical offers access to content in the Open Access system under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0
Stats
Number of views and downloads: 309
Number of citations: 0