| Rate how true each of the following is of you, from extremely or always true, to not at all or never true. | |||||
| Extremely Always True | Highly Usually True | Moderately Sometimes True | Slightly Seldom True | Not at all Never True | |
| 1. The closer I am to a major exam, the harder it is for me to concentrate on the material. | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
| 2. When I study, I worry that I will not remember the material on the exam. | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
| 3. During important exams, I think that I am doing awful or that I may fail. | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
| 4. I lose focus on important exams, and I cannot remember material that I knew before the exam. | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
| 5. I finally remember the answer to exam questions after the exam is already over. | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
| 6. I worry so much before a major exam that I am too worn out to do my best on the exam. | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
| 7. I feel out of sorts or not really myself when I take important exams. | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
| 8. I find that my mind sometimes wanders when I am taking important exams. | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
| 9. After an exam, I worry about whether I did well enough. | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
| 10. I struggle with writing assignments, or avoid them as long as I can. I feel that whatever I do willnot be good enough. | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
| Total divided by 10 | 0 | ||||
1.0—1.9 Comfortably low test anxiety
2.0—2.5 Normal or average test anxiety
2.5—2.9 High normal test anxiety
3.0—3.4 Moderately high (some items rated 4=high)
3.5—3.9 High test anxiety (half or more of the items rated 4=high)
4.0—5.0 Extremely high anxiety (items rated 4=high and 5=extreme)
Recommendations:
We have found that students who score at least 3.0 or more on our scale (at least moderately high anxiety)tend to benefit from anxiety reduction training, reporting lower anxiety and improved test scores and classgrades.
We recommend a test-anxiety control training. See: TestAnxietyControl.com
Rationale:
The Westside scale picks up performance impairment and intrusive worry:
Impairment (memory loss and poor cognitive processing) — Items #1, 4, 5, 6, 8, 10
Worry (catastrophizing) — Items #2, 3, 7, 9
Physiological symptoms — no items.
The scale is constructed to measure anxiety impairments, with most items asking directly aboutperformance impairment or about worrying, which interferes with concentration. Symptoms ofphysiological stress are found to be relatively weak indicators of performance impairments, and are notincluded in the scale.
The Westside Scale is found to be a valid measure of anxiety impairment.
See validation research at: TestAnxietyControl.com/research
See American Test Anxieties Association: www.amtaa.org for further information on test anxieties.
© 2004 by Richard Driscoll, Ph.D. You have permission to copy this scale.