Assessment Sleep Quality and its Relationship with Test Anxiety among High School Students in Qom- Iran

Abstract

<strong><em>Background</em></strong> <br/>Test anxiety is a special case of a general anxiety which is of particular importance in students, because students will be the future of the country and the society activists. On the other hand, sleep quality and sleep disorders, have correlation with ailments, poor performance, decreased quality of life and increase of associated costs; This study aimed to determine the quality of sleep and its relationship with test anxiety among students in Qom city, Iran. <br/><strong><em>Materials and Methods</em></strong> <br/>This study was a cross-sectional study, which was performed among 250 students who were going to pass the exam preparation classes. In order to collect data Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) questionnaires and Test Anxiety Inventory (TAI) questionnaire were used. Data were analyzed using SPSS-16 with descriptive statistics and statistical methods, independent t-test, ANOVA and Pearson correlation coefficient. <br/><strong><em>Results</em></strong> <br/>In this study, 50% of participants were boys (n=125) and 50 percent were girls (n=125). 81.4% of subjects had poor sleep quality and 69.6% had average to high score for test anxiety. Based on the results of anxiety test and sleep quality index there was a significant correlation between anxiety and sleep quality with gender (P=0.003, r=0.447). <br/><strong><em>Conclusion</em></strong> <br/>School children had poor sleep quality and high test anxiety, and due to their direct and significant correlation, attention to this category of students, especially for girls, is important. Therefore, anxiety and promoting sleep quality control programs are recommended in this group.