What Triggers Students’ State Anxiety in Schools: Using Latent Profile Analyses to Uncover the Combined Role of Anxiety Sensitivity and Test Anxiety

Background: Studies report a growing tendency for students to experience state anxiety in schools. However, the combination of individual susceptibilities likely to trigger students’ anxious states remains unclear. Aims: This study examined whether distinct profiles of students emerge regarding their susceptibility to anxiety sensitivity and/or test anxiety and evaluated whether students’ profile predicted anxious states. We also verified whether susceptibility profiles varied across gender, school level, and school type. Sample and Methods: In total, 1404 Canadian students in Grades 5 and 10 (589 boys) from 13 public and private schools completed self-reported measures of state/trait anxiety, anxiety sensitivity and test anxiety. Results: Latent profile analyses identified four susceptibility profiles: (1) Double-susceptibility – highest anxiety sensitivity and test anxiety scores; (2) Unique-susceptibility to test anxiety – high test anxiety score and low anxiety scores score; (3) Unique-susceptibility to anxiety sensitivity – high anxiety sensitivity score and low test anxiety score; (4) No-susceptibility – lowest anxiety sensitivity and test anxiety scores. The profiles comprised 12%, 9%, 6%, and 73% of the sample, respectively, and their membership varied across gender and school type, but not across school levels. A linear mixed-effect model showed that state anxiety varied significantly between profiles, where the Double-susceptibility profile predicted the highest state anxiety scores, followed by the two Unique-susceptibility profiles (indifferently), and the No-susceptibility profile. Conclusions: Beyond their theoretical contribution to the state-trait anxiety literature, these findings suggest that selective interventions designed more specifically for students with the Double-susceptibility profile may be worthwhile. Results also highlight the high proportion of students with the No-susceptibility profile and shed light on the reassuring portrait regarding students’ anxiety.