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Learned helplessness, test anxiety, and academic achievement: a longitudinal analysis
F D Fincham1, A Hokoda, R Sanders
1Department of Psychology, University of Illinois, Daniel, Champaign 61820.
Child Development
|February 1, 1989
Summary
Learned helplessness and test anxiety in children are stable over two years. Early signs of learned helplessness predict later academic achievement, suggesting teacher reports are valuable for identification.
Area of Science:
- Child Psychology
- Educational Psychology
- Developmental Psychology
Background:
- Individual differences in test anxiety and learned helplessness are key factors in academic performance.
- Understanding the stability of these constructs and their predictive validity is crucial for educational interventions.
- Assessing learned helplessness presents unique challenges that require careful consideration.
Purpose of the Study:
- To examine the stability of test anxiety and learned helplessness over a two-year period in children.
- To investigate the relationship between these psychological constructs and concurrent/future school achievement.
- To address issues related to the assessment of learned helplessness.
Main Methods:
- Longitudinal study involving 82 children from third to fifth grade.
- Administration of self-report measures for test anxiety and learned helplessness at two time points.
- Collection of teacher reports on learned helpless and mastery-oriented behaviors at both grade levels.
Main Results:
- Both self-report and teacher-report measures of learned helplessness demonstrated stability over the two-year period.
- Learned helplessness in third grade was significantly related to achievement test scores in fifth grade.
- Teacher reports emerged as a potentially viable method for identifying learned helplessness in children.
Conclusions:
- Individual differences in learned helplessness are stable during elementary school years.
- Early identification of learned helplessness can inform interventions aimed at improving academic outcomes.
- Teacher-based assessments offer a practical approach to identifying children at risk for learned helplessness, supporting cognitive developmental theories of effort and ability.