Impact of Self-Reported Anxiety on College Students Academic Performance and Physiological Responses
Location
Sydnor Performance Hall, Schewel Hall
Access Type
Campus Access Only
Presentation Type
Oral presentation
Entry Number
63
Start Date
4-16-2026 9:45 AM
End Date
4-16-2026 10:00 AM
School
School of Liberal Arts and Sciences
Department
Biology
Keywords
Generalized Anxiety, Electroencephalogram, Galvanic Skin Response, Heart Rate, Academic Performance, Assessment Time, Cyberball
Abstract
Generalized anxiety is becoming a growing concern among college students. This problem could be affecting students academically in ways that have not been explored yet and play a role in the dropout rate of college students. The methods used to test this hypothesis were two assessments. When students first arrived an assessment was given to determine the baseline for performance and then an anxiety stimulus was conducted. Finally, another assessment was given to determine performance after the stimulus. Along with measuring academic performance via the assessments, the physiological response of participants was also measured in the form of electroencephalogram (EEG), galvanic skin response (GSR), and heart rate. The results for the academic performance showed that self-reported anxiety did not have an effect on the test scores of the second assessment, but did have an effect on the time that it took participants to complete the second assessment when compared to the time to complete the first assessment. These results indicated that college students that reported struggling with generalized anxiety are still able to perform at a positive academic level.
Primary Faculty Mentor(s)
Dr. Wendy Williamson
Primary Faculty Mentor(s) Department
Biology
Additional Faculty Mentor(s)
Dr. Allison Jablonski and Professor Kimberly Geier
Rights Statement
The right to download or print any portion of this material is granted by the copyright owner only for personal or educational use. The author/creator retains all proprietary rights, including copyright ownership. Any editing, other reproduction or other use of this material by any means requires the express written permission of the copyright owner. Except as provided above, or for any other use that is allowed by fair use (Title 17, §107 U.S.C.), you may not reproduce, republish, post, transmit or distribute any material from this web site in any physical or digital form without the permission of the copyright owner of the material.
Impact of Self-Reported Anxiety on College Students Academic Performance and Physiological Responses
Sydnor Performance Hall, Schewel Hall
Generalized anxiety is becoming a growing concern among college students. This problem could be affecting students academically in ways that have not been explored yet and play a role in the dropout rate of college students. The methods used to test this hypothesis were two assessments. When students first arrived an assessment was given to determine the baseline for performance and then an anxiety stimulus was conducted. Finally, another assessment was given to determine performance after the stimulus. Along with measuring academic performance via the assessments, the physiological response of participants was also measured in the form of electroencephalogram (EEG), galvanic skin response (GSR), and heart rate. The results for the academic performance showed that self-reported anxiety did not have an effect on the test scores of the second assessment, but did have an effect on the time that it took participants to complete the second assessment when compared to the time to complete the first assessment. These results indicated that college students that reported struggling with generalized anxiety are still able to perform at a positive academic level.