Agência FAPESP – A survey of 1,046 college students found that 56.3% had symptoms of anxiety, considering the levels of mild, moderate and severe intensity. Female candidates were more anxious than men.

Anxiety is an emotional state characterized by a set of psychological and physiological reactions related to dangerous situations. According to the study, the five most frequent symptoms identified with the problem were nervousness, fear of the worst, inability to relax, feeling hot and indigestion.

  “ In its different levels, anxiety can be healthy and motivate candidates to study more, making them better prepare for the entrance exam. But anxiety is also a disease that impairs performance, concentration and memorization .”

The anxiety symptoms evaluated contained items such as inability to relax, heart racing, difficulty breathing, nervousness, feeling of suffocation, hand tremors and fear of losing control.

In addition to the decisive choice for a profession occurring in adolescence, which requires the premature knowledge of variables such as the job market, area of activity and salary, another factor that contributes to anxiety, according to the authors of the study, is the fact that the processes selective are characterized by a fierce competition that does not depend only on the effort of the 

candidate, but also the performance of others.

“ Students in pre-university courses live under pressure, which may be related to the onset of generalized anxiety. So that anxiety does not generate more serious mental problems, leading to disorders such as panic syndrome, depression and post-traumatic stress, preparation for tests or contests must be psychoeducational” , said Rodrigues.

Academic and clinical focus

The study shows that, during the preparation phase for the vestibular, the teenager faces, in addition to the uncertainties related to his performance on the day of the test, the strong pressure from family and friends, a situation that also ends up contributing to the emergence of anxiety that , in many cases, exceeds the limits of normality and impairs the candidate's performance.

“ It is essential that educational institutions focused on entrance examinations invest in psychological support services for students. For exam success, the ability to deal with stress and anxiety is as important an element as academic knowledge itself ,” Rodrigues said.

  “ Many cognitively well-prepared individuals have been failing, sometimes for successive years. In this case, the problem may not be in the studies and the candidate himself knows that he has the capacity to pass. This is a specific psychological issue at the time of the test, which is normally neglected by candidates during the preparation phase ”, pointed out the researcher.

According to the study, the feeling of obligation to take university entrance exams and the fact that they consider it decisive in life were two variables that had an important effect on the anxiety of university students. “Students who felt obliged to take the entrance exam for a particular course had significantly more anxiety compared to those who did not feel obligated,” said Rodrigues.

To read the article Anxiety in college students: an exploratory study, by Daniel Guzinski Rodrigues and Cátula Pelisoli, available at the SciELO online library (Bireme/FAPESP), click here.

December 16, 2008

by Thiago Romero