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Updated: Oct 3, 2026

Reducing State Anxiety Using Working Memory Maintenance
Published on: July 19, 2017
Mind wandering, together with test anxiety and self-efficacy, predicts student's academic self-concept but not
Lorenzo Desideri1, Cristina Ottaviani2,3, Carla Cecchetto1
1Department of Psychology, University of Bologna, Italy.
Background:
Mind wandering (MW) has commonly been linked to bad scholastic performance; however, such association has rarely been investigated in the classroom. Moreover, in examining such association, motivational variables have been largely ignored.
Aim:
We aimed at examining the associations between the dispositional tendency to engage in MW and a series of reading comprehension skills and measures of academic self-concept above and beyond the role of sex, age, test anxiety, self-efficacy, and self-regulation strategies.
Sample:
Late adolescents (N = 272, 133 females; 17.23 ± 1.10 years) recruited from 15 classes in public high schools.
Methods:
Students were examined in their classroom during regular teaching activities and first performed a reading comprehension test. Then, they underwent a battery assessing literacy skills, academic self-concept, the dispositional tendency to mind wander, and aspects related to self-regulated learning.
Results:
Reading comprehension and literacy skills (decoding, orthographic awareness, spelling skills, and phonological abilities) were not associated with the tendency to mind wander. Instead, MW, test anxiety, and self-efficacy - but not self-regulatory strategies - were independent predictors of academic self-concept.
Conclusions:
This study highlights the importance of evaluating the effects of MW on academic self-concept, taking into account a complex pattern of motivational and emotional variables.
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