[Mental health and performance of medical students with high and low test anxiety]

About 10 % of students suffer from test anxiety to such an extent that treatment is warranted. The correlation of high test anxiety with other mental disorders and study success is rarely investigated.

Do students with high test anxiety differ from students with low test anxiety regarding mental health and success in their studies?

Out of 945 medical students of all semesters 115 test persons were selected which scored either very high or very low for test anxiety. They were subjected to a clinical interview and two personality tests (NEO-FFI, TAS-20). The analysed sample contained 109 men und women.

Students with high test anxiety suffered in a much higher proportion from social anxieties. Also, specific isolated anxieties and other mental disorders appeared in this group more often. They had a higher score of neuroticism, lower scores of extraversion and conscientiousness and they consumed more medication. In the high test anxiety group were more long-term students than in the low test anxiety group. Only 7 % of the students with high test anxiety were in psychotherapeutic treatment. Study finances, family status, cultural and gender affiliation were without or of minor significance.

Students with high test anxiety are to a significant extent compromised in their performance and emotional wellbeing. They most likely would benefit from a low threshold psychotherapeutic outreach program offered by the university focusing among others their social anxieties.