Using the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2 to Develop a Scale to Identify Test Anxiety Among Students With Learning Disabilities

Abstract

The purpose of this article was to describe an initial step developing a new scale to identify individuals with learning disabilities (LD) and test anxiety. Eighty-eight students answered the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2 (MMPI-2). The participants were drawn from the following three groups: (a) adults with LD and test anxiety, (b) adults with LD but no test anxiety, and (c) adults with no LD and no test anxiety. Each answer of the MMPI-2 was assessed using one-way ANOVA, and 37 items were selected. Additional ANOVA with both Bonferroni and Tukey post hoc tests at the .01 significance level reduced the new scale to 18 items. The final step assessed the reliability and convergent validity of the new scale with 18 items, by comparing it with the Test Anxiety Inventory. The authors discuss the relationship between the conventional classification of test anxiety (“Worry” and “Emotionality”) with the new scale.