Progenitors of final-year Senior High School [SHS] students’ cognitive test anxiety: Examination preparedness, academic self-efficacy, and religiosity

This study investigated progenitors of Cognitive Test Anxiety (CTA) of final-year Senior High School (SHS) students in Ghana, focusing on examination preparedness (EP), academic self-efficacy (ASE), and religiosity. The Transactional Model of Stress and Coping was the theory that undergirded the study. Using a cross-sectional survey design, the study targeted 8,656 final-year students in 10 senior high schools within the Cape Coast Metropolis, from which 370 students were selected through proportionate simple random sampling. Data were collected using structured questionnaires administered to the selected students, and all questionnaires were completed and returned. Descriptive statistics (frequencies, percentages, means, and standard deviations) were computed using SPSS version 25, while Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) was performed using SmartPLS 4 to analyse the data. The results indicated that final-year SHS students exhibit high levels of progenitors of CTA with EP being the highest. The results also indicated that ASE and religiosity had a significant effect on CTA but EP showed no significant effect on CTA. The study recommended that educational stakeholders, including the Ministry of Education and school administrators, implement interventions to enhance ASE and address student test anxiety.