ORCID

https://orcid.org/0009-0002-2046-2467

Date of Award

2026

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Psychology (Ph.D.)

Department

Psychology

First Advisor

Raymond DiGiuseppe

Second Advisor

Mark Terjesen

Third Advisor

Imad Zaheer

Abstract

Achievement beliefs, cognitive distortions, and test anxiety have all been associated with students' academic and emotional functioning. However, relatively little research has examined how these variables relate to one another within the same model. The present study examined the relationships among rational and irrational achievement beliefs, cognitive distortions, facilitating and debilitating test anxiety, and semester GPA in a sample of 252 undergraduate students attending a private university in the northeastern United States (mean age = 19.50 years, SD = 1.62). Most participants identified as female and were enrolled full-time. Correlational, regression, mediation, exploratory factor analytic, and network analytic procedures were used to examine the proposed relationships among study variables. Results indicated that irrational achievement beliefs were associated with higher levels of cognitive distortions and lower levels of debilitating test anxiety, whereas rational achievement beliefs were associated with lower levels of cognitive distortions. Cognitive distortions significantly mediated the relationships between achievement beliefs and test anxiety and demonstrated strong connections with other psychological variables in the network analysis. In contrast, many of the proposed hypotheses involving GPA were not supported, and academic achievement demonstrated limited connections with the psychological variables overall. Exploratory factor analytic findings also failed to support the anticipated factor structure of the Achievement Anxiety Test (AAT). Overall, the results suggest that achievement-related beliefs may be most associated with students' experiences of test anxiety through their relationship with cognitive distortions. These results contribute to the literature on cognitive and emotional factors associated with achievement-related experiences and highlight the importance of considering cognitive distortions when examining test anxiety among college students. Implications for school psychology practice, future research, and the assessment of test anxiety are discussed.

Download

Included in

Psychology Commons

Share

COinS