OBJECTIVE

The objective of my research was to determine the study induced anxiety level among undergraduate university students before and after the examination.

METHODOLOGY

Study Design

The research design was an observational study design (with two-point readings).

Setting

Different departments (DPT, BSCS, BBA, Media Studies) of the University of South Asia were selected for the research.

Duration of Study

Four months.

Sample Size

Estimated size of the total population of the university was approximately 2500, 95% level of confidence was present, 5% confidence interval (margin of error) was present at the time of research. The sample size was 343 which was calculated through an online website.

Sampling Technique

Sample size was 343 which divided into four (groups) clusters and then selected the students by simple random technique among the different clusters.

Inclusion criteria

Those students who were present in the class on the day of data collection

-         Undergraduate students;

-         Age was between 18-25 years

Exclusion criteria

-         Postgraduate students;

-         Those who were taking any kind of anti-depressants;

-         Students with known causes of depression and anxiety.

DATA COLLECTION PROCEDURE

Selected random clusters of different department students including physiotherapy in the University of South Asia. The departments which were included media studies, management sciences (BBA), health sciences (DPT) and computer sciences (BSCS) Those students who filled the consent form were eligible to participate in the study. Collection of data was started before one week of examination and after one week of the examination. Students were requested to complete the self-reported questionnaire after that calculated the total score of the questionnaire and divide the total score with 10 points.

Test anxiety score

1.0 - 1.9 Low test anxiety

2.0 - 2.5 Average test anxiety

2.5 - 2.9 Normal test anxiety

3.0 - 3.4 Moderately high (some items rated 4=high)

3.5 - 3.9 High test anxiety (half or more of the items rated 4=high)

4.0 - 5.0 Extremely high anxiety (items rated 4=high and 5=extreme)

OUTCOME MEASURE TOOLS WITH VALIDITY AND RELIABILITY

Westside Test Anxiety Scale

West Side Text Anxiety Scale was a valid and reliable tool for the measurement of anxiety disorder. The scale was brief and easily administered. It was free of cost and easily available for the students. The items of the scale easily cover the self-analyzed anxiety which impairs the performance. Validity and reliability. An alpha value of reliability was 0.89 by using Cronbach’s.

Statistical Analysis

Data was collected by the self-administered questionnaire and entered on the IBM SPSS V 21 sheet while analyzed by the mean, standard deviation, frequency, percentage, and ANOVA.

Variables

Independent variables: Age, Gender, Examination

Dependent variable: Anxiety

RESULTS

According to the results 98.5% students, age was between 18-25 years an equal number of male 50% and female students 50% DPT and BBA students were 25.1 % who participate in the research 24.9% of students of BSCS and Media studies which take participate in the research. 28.7% students of 4^th semester, 84.7% of students had the GPA 2.6 and more than that, 86.1% of students were not taking antidepressants (Table 1).

Mean anxiety level in male was 2.943± (SD 0.8), in female mean value were 3.670± (SD 0.8), F value was 12.927 and the signs were 0.00 in pre-examination anxiety levels According to the results the female students had high anxiety levels than male students (Table 2).

Mean anxiety level in male was 1.956 ± (SD 0.6), in female mean value were 2.113 ± (SD 0.7), F value was 4.382 and the signs were 0.037 in post-examination anxiety levels Significant showed that there was no difference in the post-examination anxiety level (Table 3).

DPT students showed mean value 4.309 ± (SD 0.8), BSCS students mean value 3.484± (SD 3.3), BBA students mean value 2.814± (SD 0.6), MEDIA STUDIES students mean value 2.613± (SD 0.5), F value was 15.75 and significant was 0.00 in pre-examination anxiety level.

According to the results, the DPT students showed a high anxiety level than the other departments of the university (Table 4).

 DPT students showed mean value 2.064± (SD 0.8), BSCS students mean value 2.086± (SD 0.5), BBA students mean value 2.22± (SD 0.5), MEDIA STUDIES students mean value 1.76 (SD 0.6), F value was 7.020 and significant was 0.00 in post-examination anxiety level (Table 5).

According to the result, the post-examination anxiety level was almost equal.

DISCUSSION

The current study outlined high anxiety levels among female students as compared to male students. A previous study by Erdem also revealed that female students had high anxiety levels than male students [12]. Also revealed the same results. female often show more anxiety symptoms as compared to the male [13]. In this study, results showed that stress for scoring high, fear of failure and lack of concentration for exams cause high anxiety levels. Worrying about the exams cannot be regarded as high scores, in fact, it only raises the anxiety levels. Another possible reason for high anxiety levels among females was due to narrow mind attitude of people in Pakistan where lack of freedom for the female to participate in other activities to relax their mind High level of study induced anxiety may be due to fear of failure, disappointment and lack of facilities. According to my study results, there were high anxiety levels among DPT as compared to other department students. Medical student life can be very stressful. Normal to a high level of test anxiety were outlined in previous studies [14] other than that end of the semester time just before the examination students showed psychological issue which also raised the anxiety level (Med Educ,1991) also stated the similar results [15,9]. This research revealed the different levels of study induced anxiety among the students of the different department at the University of South Asia. Literature support that medical students had a high anxiety level due to academic stress. DPT department showed high anxiety levels while other departments had low to moderately high anxiety.Physiological factors showed the variation among students which may affect the results. The environment of the university also affects the anxiety level of the student's high anxiety levels directly lowers the academic performance of the students and research also support this. Hembree stated in 1997 that the test anxiety caused poor education in a meta-analysis of 562. Richard and Davis also revealed the same results about the high anxiety and low academic performance [16]. Guardians and friends can help the students by keeping them motivated to perform well without getting the stress. Different types of training can be given to the students to minimize their anxiety level by providing them problem-solving ways in their education life.

CONCLUSION

According to the present study, the conclusion is that anxiety is one of the major issues in student academic life specifically for female and science students. It mainly gave a negative impact on academic performance. Although the majority of male students have low anxiety levels many of them have a high level of anxiety.