Test anxiety predictors inventory (tapi): development and initial validation of a predictor-oriented instrument for...

Area of Science:

• Medical Education
• Psychometrics
• Student Well-being

Background:

• Test anxiety (TA) significantly impacts medical students' mental health and academic outcomes.
• Existing tools primarily measure anxiety severity, not modifiable predictors.
• There is a need for instruments to identify at-risk students for targeted interventions.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and validate the Test Anxiety Predictors Inventory (TAPI).
• To support the identification of medical students experiencing test anxiety.
• To inform the development of domain-specific interventions in medical training.

Main Methods:

• A cross-sectional census survey of 382 medical students was conducted.
• A 30-item pool was refined using exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis.
• Internal consistency, validity, and concurrent classification performance were assessed.

Main Results:

• The 14-item TAPI demonstrated strong internal structure and reliability (α/ω = 0.89-0.95).
• The TAPI correlated significantly with the Test Anxiety Inventory (TAI; r=0.576).
• The classification model achieved an AUC of 0.804 with high sensitivity (0.938).

Conclusions:

• The TAPI exhibits promising psychometric properties and concurrent classification accuracy.
• High sensitivity suggests utility for first-stage screening of test anxiety.
• Modest specificity indicates TAPI should supplement, not replace, formal diagnostic assessments.