Investigation of the relationship between exam anxiety and sports continuity in children

This research is a descriptive study to examine the relationship between test anxiety and sports continuity in children. The sample group consists of 1314 students (536 girls, 778 boys) randomly selected from secondary and high school students affiliated to Gaziantep Provincial Directorate of National Education in 2021 on a voluntary basis. In order to collect data in the research, the personal information form created by the researcher and the "Westside Exam Anxiety Scale", which was adapted into Turkish by Totan (2018), were used. SPSS 22.0 program was used for the statistical analysis of the data in the research. Independent sample t-test for paired groups, OneWay ANOVA for multiple groups, Spearmans' correlation analysis was used to determine the relationship between variables. As a result of the research, it was determined that the test anxiety scores of the students were moderate, but the anxiety scores of the male students were found to be significantly higher than those of the female students. It has been determined that the majority of the sample group (991 people) are engaged in sports in the 5th-7th grades at the secondary school level, and they stay away from sports activities at the high school level. The test anxiety scores of those who did not deal with a sport branch were higher. Vocational high school students' test anxiety scores were higher than other school types, and the test anxiety scores of 11th and 12th grades were higher in terms of education level. It was determined that the rate of quitting sport is mostly at 12th grades. As the income level of the students increases, their test anxiety scores also decrease. In terms of mother and father education level, the test anxiety scores of the students whose parents' education level is low were found to be high. No relationship was found between the reasons for quitting sports and exam anxiety, but it was seemed that they quit doing sports (%72,3) because they couldn't find time to achieve their academic goals.