The development and validation of a Spanish language version of the Test Anxiety Inventory for Children and Adolescents

This study details the development and validation of a Spanish language version of the Test Anxiety Inventory for Children and Adolescents (TAICA), a measure of test anxiety for elementary, middle, and high school students. Test anxiety has been found to have a significant impact on academic achievement. The rapidly-growing Hispanic minority in the United States is especially at risk for low achievement and dropping out of school. Immigrants from Spanish-speaking countries are typically not able to read and respond to inventories in English for several years while learning that language and Federal law mandates testing students in their primary language if it is feasible to do so. A Spanish adaptation of the TAICA would fulfill a need for school psychologists who work with Limited English Proficient (LEP) students.;In this study, the TAICA was adapted and piloted with a sample of Spanish-reading students. Factor analysis was performed in order to determine whether or not the same factors emerged for the Spanish form of the test, followed by an examination of the reliability of the Test Anxiety Inventory for Children and Adolescents-Spanish Version (TAICA-S) scores for the total sample and for the male and female subsamples, and finally t-tests and a MANOVA were performed to determine whether or not gender differences exist on the factors. It was determined that the factors are similar for both forms of the test; however, statistically significant gender differences were not found on individual scales and subscales of the TAICA-S. The scores on the scales and subscales were found to be reliable. Implications, limitations of the study, and future research directions are discussed.;This study provides school psychologists with helpful information about the construct of test anxiety for Hispanics and allows comparisons to be made between the mainstream group and the Hispanic minority. It will potentially aid school psychologists in their ability to assess, identify, and subsequently treat students whose first language is Spanish and who have high levels of test anxiety.