Relationship between parental attitudes and test anxiety in students to take the university entrance examination: The case of Adana

In terms of their education life, our children / young people who have taken exams in an education system which is filled with exams, have an intense working process with their peers in order to enter the schools they want to enter and continue their lives in this fast flow. Physical, psychological, mental and physical adversities can be seen in students who are concerned about exam. The variety of factors that cause test anxiety is of course the case. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of parental attitudes on test anxiety. For this purpose, a total of 220 students aged 17-19 years were enrolled in the study. In the study, Test Anxiety Inventory, Parental Attitude Scale and sociodemographic information form were used. Data were analyzed by using statistical package program in computer environment. According to the results of the study, the total score of the test anxiety and the sub-dimension scores of the women were found to be significantly higher than the men. As the number of siblings increases, the family attitudes decreases and the attitude of the authoritarian parents increases. There was no relationship between the monthly income of the family, the level of education of the mother and father and the level of examination anxiety. As the success of the students decreased, the scores of the test scores increased significantly. It is understood that it is possible to obtain support from the expert according to the breakpoints determined in the test anxiety inventory scores for high and low students. A negative directional relationship was found between the scores of total and sub-dimension scores of the test anxiety and the protective-demanding and authoritarian parents scores, and a positive negative relationship between the scores of the democratic parental attitudes. A statistically significant relationship was found between the level of the test anxiety severity felt by a simple visual scale and the test anxiety total and sub-dimension (worry and emotionality) scores. The results are interpreted and discussed with the literature.