The instrumental role of unrational beliefs in the relationship between the childhood experiences of secondary school students and test anxiety

The main purpose of this research is to investigate the instrumental role of irrational beliefs in the relationship between the childhood experiences of 8th grade students and exam anxiety. Relational screening and causal comparison design were used in the study. The universe of the study consists of 8th grade students studying in public and private secondary schools in the central district of Siirt in the spring semester of the 2021–2022 academic year. The sample of the study consisted of 433 students, 225 of whom were female and 208 of whom were male, from 6 schools selected by the easily accessible sampling method. Childhood Experiences Scale (CES), Irrational Beliefs (IB), Anxiety Inventory (TAI) and "Demographic Information Form" prepared by the researcher were used as data collection tools in the research. The data of the research were analyzed using AMOS 24.0 and SPSS 25.0 and SPSS PROCESS 3.5 Macro package programs. Before the analysis, confirmatory factor analyzes of the scales were made and it was seen that they had acceptable fit values. As a result of the analyses, it was concluded that the instrumental effect of irrational beliefs was significant in the prediction of exam anxiety from childhood experiences. According to the results of the study, it was found that there was a significant and positive correlation between Childhood Experiences and Sub-dimensions (Threaty, Submissive, Unworthy) and Anxiety scale sub-dimensions (Affectiveness, Delusion) and Irrational Beliefs. A significant difference was found between the childhood experience scores of female students and the childhood experience scores of male students. It was determined that the test anxiety scores of 8th grade students showed a significant difference according to the number of siblings, and students with two siblings had more test anxiety scores than students with one sibling. In addition, it was determined that there was a significant difference in the test anxiety scores of the 8th grade students according to the Daily Study Time, and the groups with the highest anxiety were the students who worked for 7 hours and the students who worked for 1-2 hours.