2-dimensional cognitive test anxieties and their relationships with achievement goals, cognitive resources, motivational engagement, and academic performance

Little research has explored the dimensions of cognitive test anxiety. However, the various dimensions of cognitive test anxiety may resolve the inconsistencies in past research results on the relationship between test anxiety and academic performance. Therefore, a model of 2-dimensional cognitive test anxieties (a 2-D CTA model) and a model of cognitive test anxiety and related factors (a CAR model) were constructed respectively to explore the different dimensions of cognitive test anxiety and their relationships with related factors. The participants included 1798 Taiwanese junior high school students, and structural equation modeling was used. The following results were obtained: (a) The two models fitted the observed data well; (b) the stronger relationship between avoidance-mastery goals and learning content worry and the stronger relationship between avoidance-performance goals and self-evaluation worry were found; (c) learning content worry positively predicted academic performance by increasing adaptive motivation engagement and reducing maladaptive motivation engagement, and (d) self-evaluation worry positively predicted maladaptive motivation engagement.