Test anxiety. Relationship to academic and clinical performance in dental hygiene students

This study investigated the relationship of test anxiety, study skills, aptitude, and prior GPA to academic and clinical performance in junior and senior dental hygiene students. Eighty-nine volunteer subjects completed a test anxiety scale (TAS) and an effective study test (EST) at the beginning of the spring semester. Prior grade point average (GPA) and dental hygiene candidate aptitude (DHCAT) scores were obtained, and the relationships of all variables to spring GPA and spring clinic grade were analyzed. TAS showed significant, but weak, inverse relationships with prior GPA (r = -.24, p less than .05) and spring GPA (r = -.29, p less than .01). Verbal, science, and reading comprehension subscales of the DHCAT were significantly and moderately associated with spring GPA. In a hierarchical/stepwise regression analysis. TAS did not explain any of the variance in academic or clinical performance. Study skills explained 3% of the variance in spring GPA and 6% of the variance in spring clinic grade. Prior GPA was identified as the strongest predictor of academic performance in the dental hygiene program as it explained 44% of the variance in overall spring GPA. None of the variables studied emerged as a strong predictor of clinical performance.