Evaluation of exam anxiety, caffeine consumption and SLEEP quality of HİGH SCHOOL students

This research aims to determine the exam anxiety level of students, who are getting prepared for exam, and to assess their caffeine intake and sleep qualities during such period. The research is performed between March and April 2022 with the participation of 74 students, aged between 14 and 18, studying in 2 different colleges in Hatay. 12th grades, who are in exam preparation period, and 9th grades, whose exam period has ended recently, are compared to detect exam anxiety. Participants completed a survey form to determine their general characteristics, dietary habits, anthropometric characteristics, caffeine consumption frequency records, sleep qualities and exam anxiety levels. Obtained data are assessed on SPSS program. 74 adolescents, 60.8% of whom were females, and 39.2% of whom were males, in the average age of 16.2±1.7 participated to the study. According to obtained data, average caffeine consumption per kilogram is detected as body weight 5.3+3.9 5 mg/kg. Statistically significant difference is found between anxiety levels by gender (p<0.05). We detected that 75% of adolescents, who have low anxiety levels, consume low level of caffeine, and we also detected that adolescents, who have moderate and high anxiety levels, consume high level of caffeine, i.e. 64.4% and 81% respectively (p<0.05). Skipped meals and anxiety levels showed a significantly different distribution among sleep quality groups (p<0.05). 86% of students, who have poor sleep quality, emphasized that they skip morning meal, and 66.7% of students, who have good sleep quality, emphasized that they skip morning meal, and we observed that all of the students, who have good sleep quality, eat dinner. We detected that the average sleep quality scores of participants are detected as 6.8±4.2, 7.8±2.9 and 10±3.1 by categories of low, moderate and high anxiety levels respectively (p<0.05). Adolescents, who have good sleep quality, had an average anxiety level score of 91.1±25.7, while average score of individuals, who had poor sleep quality, is observed as higher, i.e. 115.5±21.7 (p<0.05). Obtained data show that exam anxiety is observed in high school students, and that there is a correlation between caffeine consumption, anxiety level and sleep quality. Also, similar to the results available in the literature, we observed there is a bidirectional relationship between sleep and anxiety. More number of studies must be conducted on this issue since sufficient number of studies is not available in the literature and since the subject is critical for adolescents. Keywords: Exam anxiety, caffeine, sleep quality