Test anxiety, emotional regulation and academic performance among medical students: a qualitative study
Medical school can be a difficult and emotionally turbulent experience for students. Test anxiety is very common among medical students and may impact their academic performance. However, there is a lack of qualitative studies on test anxiety and emotion regulation in relation to the academic perfor...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Taylor & Francis Group
2025-12-01
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| Series: | Medical Education Online |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/10872981.2025.2505177 |
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| author | Nora Alshareef Sabir Giga Ian Fletcher |
| author_facet | Nora Alshareef Sabir Giga Ian Fletcher |
| author_sort | Nora Alshareef |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Medical school can be a difficult and emotionally turbulent experience for students. Test anxiety is very common among medical students and may impact their academic performance. However, there is a lack of qualitative studies on test anxiety and emotion regulation in relation to the academic performance of medical students. This study aims to examine the relationship between test anxiety and academic performance among medical students, exploring the role of emotion regulation and coping strategies in managing test anxiety during examinations. The study involved 22 medical students from one Saudi medical school who participated in semi-structured interviews. The interviews were recorded and transcribed verbatim. A thematic analysis was conducted on the transcribed data, resulting in the identification of four key themes. The emerging themes are test anxiety, academic performance, emotion regulation, and other coping strategies. Students’ anxiety can vary from a source of motivation to a severe obstacle. It impacts their theoretical understanding, practical abilities, and the evaluation criteria used to assess academic achievement. However, some students use both adaptive and maladaptive emotion regulation strategies. Promoting emotion regulation and various coping mechanisms to address test anxiety in medical students is essential to enhance their academic performance and prepare them for future healthcare professions. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-00d14e2fe5f44b439002304746bd35ac |
| institution | OA Journals |
| issn | 1087-2981 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-12-01 |
| publisher | Taylor & Francis Group |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Medical Education Online |
| spelling | doaj-art-00d14e2fe5f44b439002304746bd35ac2025-08-20T01:51:01ZengTaylor & Francis GroupMedical Education Online1087-29812025-12-0130110.1080/10872981.2025.2505177Test anxiety, emotional regulation and academic performance among medical students: a qualitative studyNora Alshareef0Sabir Giga1Ian Fletcher2Medical Education Department, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Saudi ArabiaDivision of Health Research, Lancaster University, Lancaster, UKDivision of Health Research, Lancaster University, Lancaster, UKMedical school can be a difficult and emotionally turbulent experience for students. Test anxiety is very common among medical students and may impact their academic performance. However, there is a lack of qualitative studies on test anxiety and emotion regulation in relation to the academic performance of medical students. This study aims to examine the relationship between test anxiety and academic performance among medical students, exploring the role of emotion regulation and coping strategies in managing test anxiety during examinations. The study involved 22 medical students from one Saudi medical school who participated in semi-structured interviews. The interviews were recorded and transcribed verbatim. A thematic analysis was conducted on the transcribed data, resulting in the identification of four key themes. The emerging themes are test anxiety, academic performance, emotion regulation, and other coping strategies. Students’ anxiety can vary from a source of motivation to a severe obstacle. It impacts their theoretical understanding, practical abilities, and the evaluation criteria used to assess academic achievement. However, some students use both adaptive and maladaptive emotion regulation strategies. Promoting emotion regulation and various coping mechanisms to address test anxiety in medical students is essential to enhance their academic performance and prepare them for future healthcare professions.https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/10872981.2025.2505177Examtest anxietyacademic performancemedical studentemotion regulationcoping mechanism. |
| spellingShingle | Nora Alshareef Sabir Giga Ian Fletcher Test anxiety, emotional regulation and academic performance among medical students: a qualitative study Medical Education Online Exam test anxiety academic performance medical student emotion regulation coping mechanism. |
| title | Test anxiety, emotional regulation and academic performance among medical students: a qualitative study |
| title_full | Test anxiety, emotional regulation and academic performance among medical students: a qualitative study |
| title_fullStr | Test anxiety, emotional regulation and academic performance among medical students: a qualitative study |
| title_full_unstemmed | Test anxiety, emotional regulation and academic performance among medical students: a qualitative study |
| title_short | Test anxiety, emotional regulation and academic performance among medical students: a qualitative study |
| title_sort | test anxiety emotional regulation and academic performance among medical students a qualitative study |
| topic | Exam test anxiety academic performance medical student emotion regulation coping mechanism. |
| url | https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/10872981.2025.2505177 |
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