Test and Math Anxiety: A Validation of the German Test Anxiety Questionnaire

The present study investigated the construct validity of the Test Anxiety Questionnaire (Prüfungsangstfragebogen PAF; Hodapp, Rohrmann, & Ringeisen, 2011), a revised and shortened version of the German Test Anxiety Inventory (TAI-G), by comparing it with math anxiety. A sample of German fifth- and sixth-grade students (N = 79; 61 % male) was analyzed. Math anxiety was measured by a German adaptation of the Math Anxiety Questionnaire (Fragebogen für Rechenangst FRA; Krinzinger et al., 2007). A significant but moderate correlation between test anxiety and math anxiety was found. In regression analyses, math anxiety predicted math performance whereas test anxiety explained additional variance for both math and overall performance. It can be concluded that math and test anxiety have overlaps, but do not constitute the same construct. Thus, the results support the construct validity of the PAF indicating its usefulness in practical application.