TEST ANXIETY AND CHILDHOOD ANXIETY DISORDERS IN AFRICAN-AMERICAN AND WHITE SCHOOL-CHILDREN

Recent data suggest that a substantial percentage of test-anxious white children suffer concurrently from social pbobia or overanxious disorder. However, there are no data on the relationship among these conditions in African American children. This study compared the relationship of test anxiety, a common childhood complaint, to other DSM-III-R anxiety disorders in samples of African American and white elementary school children. As expected, the results indicated that there were significant differences between test anxious and nontest anxious children on self-report and behavioral assessment data. Differences in race were found for pulse rate and systolic blood pressure during the behavioral task, where the white children had significantly higher increases. In addition, a substantial percentage of both test-anxious groups (white and African American) met DSM-III-R criteria for an anxiety disorder, and significantly more African American than while children met criteria for social phobia. The results are discussed in terms of the comorbidity of test anxiety and other anxiety disorders in both groups, and the similarities and differences in their expression across race.