Tips on Supporting Your Child With Testing Anxiety
Spring is here – and by every way of its arrival, so is testing season in schools. Testing can bring up anxiety in any child, and as a parent, it is difficult to know how to best support your child. Testing anxiety, which is also considered performance anxiety, involves the fear of being judged as inadequate, as well as the fear of underperforming or making a mistake and of failure and/or rejection.
Children with anxious temperaments or those who worry about making mistakes or performing in general are particularly susceptible to feeling test anxiety. Usually when a child thinks that they aren’t going to do well on a test, then they tend to feel more anxious going in. Testing anxiety can lead to anticipatory anxiety with considerable worry prior to taking the test and only increasing as the test approaches. For many children, however, the anxiety actually subsides once they begin the test, and for others, they continue to experience distracting symptoms during the test, such as not being able to think clearly, a pounding heart, hand tremors, sweating, nausea, or dry mouth (Bourne, 2015).
The following ideas are strategies to implement ahead of time in helping prepare your child to take the test.
First, encourage helpful self-talk. Here are some thoughts that your child can use to challenge their anxiety:
“It’s human and okay to make mistakes.”
“I am confident and I work hard.”
“I know I can do this, I have done it before.”
“I trust myself I will do my best.”
Writing helpful self-talk, or positive affirmations, on the bathroom mirror or in an easy-to-see spot can help remind your child to repeat positive affirmations each night before bed or after waking up in the morning.
Second, walk your child through the visualization of feeling confident and “acing” the test. This practice will help your child create the positive mental image that comes with experiencing success.
Third, teach your child “cognitive reframing.” Cognitive reframing involves teaching your child to give their anxious thoughts a name or to “boss back” those thoughts by replacing them with more helpful ones such as:
“You don’t worry me! I know how to do this!”
“You’re not helping me right now, I think I will ignore you!”
This type of reframing helps your child to cope with their anxious thoughts by externalizing their anxiety.
Finally, the following are helpful tips to ensure that your child is prepared:
Stick to your regular, structured routine which is key to keeping anxiety at bay.
Encourage your child to get restful sleep. The following are sleep recommendations based on age by the American Academy of Pediatrics (2023):
10–12 hours per day for 3–6 year olds
10–11 hours per day for 7–12 year olds
8–9 hours per day for 12–18 year olds
Make sure that your child doesn’t test on an empty stomach and eats foods that will keep them fuller longer (i.e., high in protein and healthy fats) and that keep their blood sugar level up.
Check ahead of time to see if water is available while your child tests.
Take a walk with your child to release nervous energy an hour or two before the test.
Remind your child that they have had adequate practice testing in school that will help them feel better prepared for the big day.
Plan a reward for your child to enjoy after taking the test (e.g., going out for ice cream). This will act as a positive reinforcement to your child for their hard work.
By keeping these helpful tips and strategies, hopefully your child will be able to build confidence and more smoothly navigate their testing anxiety!
Sources:
Bourne, Edmond. The Anxiety & Phobia Workbook, New Harbinger Publications, 2015.
American Academy of Pediatrics 2023, Academy of American Pediatrics website, accessed 12 March 2023, https://www.aap.org/.
Therapy Services for Testing Anxiety at Austin Anxiety and OCD Specialists
We hope that our blog will be a helpful resource for parents of children struggling with test anxiety; however, we also acknowledge that additional support is sometimes necessary. Austin Anxiety and OCD Specialists is committed to serving children and teens who are struggling with school-related anxiety including test-taking anxiety. We serve children and teens living in Austin, Westlake, Round Rock, Cedar Park, Leander, Georgetown, Pflugerville, Buda, Kyle, and the surrounding areas for in-person therapy sessions at our three Austin area offices. We also provide teletherapy (virtual video therapy sessions) for children and teens living throughout the state of Texas. If you are interested in scheduling an appointment or learning more about therapy for anxiety or OCD please contact us at hello@austinanxiety.com or 512-246-7225.