Discriminating clinical from nonclinical manifestations of test anxiety: a validation study

Test anxiety, although being a very common, severe, and impairing psychological disorder, is not coded as a separate diagnosis in the DSM or ICD. In the present study we investigated whether the Test Anxiety Inventory can be used to discriminate clinical and subclinical levels of test anxiety by comparing patients who seek treatment for their test anxiety in an outpatient clinic with carefully matched students with normal test anxiety. The data from 47 test-anxious patients as well as 41 healthy university students were examined. Results show that a cutoff score of ≥80 in the Test Anxiety Inventory can discriminate the clinical group from the control students. The symptom pattern of test anxiety was very consistent in the clinical group regardless of the principal diagnosis allocated by the treating clinician. Comorbid depression did not affect the severity of test anxiety. The motivation to avoid failure was one of the most important differences between patients who sought help for their test anxiety and students with nonclinical levels of test anxiety.