Analysis of Studies about Academic Anxiety: A Thematic Review

Abstract

The aim of this research was to analyze academic anxiety studies in the literature using the thematic review method and to determine the current trend in this field. In the research, a meta-synthesis study was carried out including 61 studies, 3 of which were theses and 58 were articles, published between 1981-2021. The studies used in the research were accessed in Dissertations and Theses Global-Proquest, Eric-EBSCOhost, MEDLINE, Science Direct, Scopus, SpringerLink, Taylor and Francis Online, Wiley, ULAKBIM, YÖK Thesis Center and Google Scholar databases. Published articles or theses about determining the nature of academic anxiety in the literature were included in the study. In the examined studies, the relationship of academic anxiety with more than one variable was investigated and it was determined that most studies focused on examining the differences based on demographic variables. The survey model was the most frequently chosen research method, and qualitative research methods were not sufficiently used. The studies examined were carried out mostly by using the questionnaire method in high school level age groups and sample groups of 101-300 people. Therefore, in order to carry out new studies with larger working groups, to examine the academic anxiety of students at higher education level and to carry out reviews, scale development or adaptation studies for higher education students are needed. In addition, there was a limited number of experimental studies conducted about reducing student academic anxiety. Survey and relational based quantitative research needs to be supported by experimental methods.