An Integrative Model for Academic Anxiety

Jerrell CassadyBall State University, USA

Paper Presented at the 31st World Conference on Stress and Anxiety Research. Galway, Ireland; August 4-6, 2010

Background

• Personal experience as test anxiety researcher• Advisor to educational psychology and school

psychology doctoral candidates• Academic Anxiety Research Consortium

– Competing interests and needs from academic anxiety research community

Practical Problem and Need

• Fragmentation in the broad perspective for practitioners when faced with a student experiencing “academic anxieties”

– Generalized Anxiety Disorder– Internalizing Emotional Behavior Disorder– Various content/contextual anxieties– “School phobia”

Contextual Anxieties• Test Anxiety• Computer AnxietyContent Anxieties• Math Anxiety• Science Anxiety• Foreign Language Anxiety• Reading AnxietyUnique Populations• Minorities & Stereotype Threat• Anxiety in the gifted• Anxiety for special needs

learnersGeneralized Coping Models

Contributors

Shari L. Britner Mark Brosnan Jerrell CassadyKathryn Fletcher Peter Goodison Abigail Holland Elaine K. Horwitz Thomas Huberty

Molly M. Jameson Han Luo Rebecca S. Martinez Sal Mendaglio Jason W. Osborne Michael Putman Michael Tallon David Tillman

Unifying Themes and Findings

• Prior experience as foundation• Sub-optimal functioning in multiple cognitive tasks when

faced with stressor• Specificity in stress response – reactions localized to unique

stressor• Personal interpretation of stressor, self, context, and

support available serve as contributing determinants• Interventions necessitate identification of stressor and

adjusting interpretation, problem solving, and self-regulation in events

• Expectation that support and training can lead to overcoming the negative situational outcomes

Academic Anxieties

Common Causes• Prior failures• Classical conditioning• Parental expectations• Societal expectations• Perfectionism• Goals• Motivational set• Perseveration on failure• Attentional biases

Common Consequences• Cognitive overload• Cognitive interference• Negative self-image• Avoidance• Procrastination• Self handicapping• Withdrawal• Overgeneralization of

failures

Pertinent Issues of Consideration

• Mandated attendance and participation• High stakes evaluation• Initially isolated anxiety-related beliefs and

behaviors to specific context can become generalized to broader frame of reference

• Identification and treatment barriers• Need to promote practitioner-focused

explanatory framework

Emotional Information Processing ModelCassady & Boseck (2008)

• Functional model for encoding, interpreting, and acting upon environmental and personal stimuli

• Applies a basic information processing network solution to emotional information

• Builds upon:– Bandura’s conception for Human Agency and social

cognitive learning– Crick & Dodge’s Social Information Processing model– Lazarus & Folkman’s transactional model for self-regulation– Carver & Sheier’s explanation for the role of developing

and implementing coping resources

KNOWLEDGE BASE

·Past experiences·Social expectations·Cultural norms·Effective goals·Effective coping processes·Rules and guidelines·Tacit knowledge

ENCODING

·Internal emotions·External/Social cues·Situational variables

CUE INTERPRETATION

·Attributions·Mental representation·Emotional reflection

GOAL ARTICULATION

·Establish expectations·Identify personal needs·Examine resources

RESPONSE SELECTION & PREDICTION

·Generate possible actions·Evaluate efficacy·Coping mechanisms·Examine resources

ENACTMENT

·Perform chosen action ·Evaluate successfulness·Examine revised situation

Situation/Event

·External agents·Personal emotions·Context factors

KNOWLEDGE BASE

·Past experiences·Social expectations·Cultural norms·Effective goals·Effective coping processes·Rules and guidelines·Tacit knowledge

ENCODING

·Internal emotions·External/Social cues·Situational variables

CUE INTERPRETATION

·Attributions·Mental representation·Emotional reflection

GOAL ARTICULATION

·Establish expectations·Identify personal needs·Examine resources

RESPONSE SELECTION & PREDICTION

·Generate possible actions·Evaluate efficacy·Coping mechanisms·Examine resources

ENACTMENT

·Perform chosen action ·Evaluate successfulness·Examine revised situation

Situation/Event

·External agents·Personal emotions·Context factors

KNOWLEDGE BASE

·Past experiences·Social expectations·Cultural norms·Effective goals·Effective coping processes·Rules and guidelines·Tacit knowledge

ENCODING

·Internal emotions·External/Social cues·Situational variables

CUE INTERPRETATION

·Attributions·Mental representation·Emotional reflection

GOAL ARTICULATION

·Establish expectations·Identify personal needs·Examine resources

RESPONSE SELECTION & PREDICTION

·Generate possible actions·Evaluate efficacy·Coping mechanisms·Examine resources

ENACTMENT

·Perform chosen action ·Evaluate successfulness·Examine revised situation

Situation/Event

·External agents·Personal emotions·Context factors

KNOWLEDGE BASE

· Past experiences·Social expectations·Cultural norms·Effective goals·Effective coping processes·Rules and guidelines·Tacit knowledge

CUE INTERPRETATION

·Attributions·Mental representation·Emotional reflection

GOAL ARTICULATION

·Establish expectations·Identify personal needs·Examine resources

RESPONSE SELECTION & PREDICTION

·Generate possible actions·Evaluate efficacy·Coping mechanisms·Examine resources

ENACTMENT

·Perform chosen action ·Evaluate successfulness·Examine revised situation

Situation/Event

·External agents·Personal emotions·Context factors

ENCODING

·Internal emotions·External/Social cues·Situational variables

Attend to stimuliPerceive/Interpret stimuliAttention “filter” leads to biases

KNOWLEDGE BASE

· Past experiences·Social expectations·Cultural norms·Effective goals·Effective coping processes·Rules and guidelines·Tacit knowledge

ENCODING

·Internal emotions·External/Social cues·Situational variables

GOAL ARTICULATION

· Establish expectations·Identify personal needs·Examine resources

RESPONSE SELECTION & PREDICTION

·Generate possible actions·Evaluate efficacy·Coping mechanisms·Examine resources

ENACTMENT

·Perform chosen action ·Evaluate successfulness·Examine revised situation

Situation/Event

·External agents·Personal emotions·Context factors

CUE INTERPRETATION

·Attributions·Mental representation·Emotional reflection

Perceived Threat LevelPersonal risk factorsIdentify source of anxiety

KNOWLEDGE BASE

·Past experiences·Social expectations·Cultural norms·Effective goals·Effective coping processes·Rules and guidelines·Tacit knowledge

ENCODING

·Internal emotions·External/Social cues·Situational variables

CUE INTERPRETATION

·Attributions·Mental representation·Emotional reflection

RESPONSE SELECTION & PREDICTION

·Generate possible actions·Evaluate efficacy·Coping mechanisms·Examine resources

ENACTMENT

·Perform chosen action ·Evaluate successfulness·Examine revised situation

Situation/Event

·External agents·Personal emotions·Context factors

GOAL ARTICULATION

·Establish expectations·Identify personal needs·Examine resources

Approach/AvoidanceSelf-regulatory controlInitiate coping strategies

KNOWLEDGE BASE

·Past experiences·Social expectations·Cultural norms·Effective goals·Effective coping processes·Rules and guidelines·Tacit knowledge

ENCODING

·Internal emotions·External/Social cues·Situational variables

CUE INTERPRETATION

·Attributions·Mental representation·Emotional reflection

GOAL ARTICULATION

·Establish expectations·Identify personal needs·Examine resources

ENACTMENT

·Perform chosen action ·Evaluate successfulness·Examine revised situation

Situation/Event

·External agents·Personal emotions·Context factors

RESPONSE SELECTION & PREDICTION

·Generate possible actions·Evaluate efficacy·Coping mechanisms·Examine resources

Self-regulation processRefer to KB & GoalsSteady reliance on habit

KNOWLEDGE BASE

·Past experiences·Social expectations·Cultural norms·Effective goals·Effective coping processes·Rules and guidelines·Tacit knowledge

ENCODING

·Internal emotions·External/Social cues·Situational variables

CUE INTERPRETATION

·Attributions·Mental representation·Emotional reflection

GOAL ARTICULATION

·Establish expectations·Identify personal needs·Examine resources

RESPONSE SELECTION & PREDICTION

·Generate possible actions·Evaluate efficacy·Coping mechanisms·Examine resources

Situation/Event

·External agents·Personal emotions·Context factors

ENACTMENT

·Perform chosen action ·Evaluate successfulness·Examine revised situation

Act upon selected strategy

Implications and Suggestions

• Must avoid tendency to lump all specific anxieties together while balancing need for general model to serve practitioners

• Use EIP (or various other diagnostic models) to identify strategies for mitigating anxiety responses

• De-mystify anxiety responses as only “clinical” issues

• Involve parents and teachers in identification and intervention efforts

Jerrell CassadyProfessor, Dept. of Educational PsychologyDirector, Academic Anxiety Research ConsortiumBall State University

jccassady@bsu.edu