The Moderating Role of Anxiety in Predicting Academic Achievement in Children

Abstract

The present study examined the relationship between anxiety and academic achievement in a sample of clinic-referred children. Specifically, the study investigated whether anxiety contributed to the prediction of academic achievement above and beyond the influence of IQ. Furthermore, the study explored whether anxiety moderated the already established relationship between IQ and academic achievement. In the present study, the WISC-III Verbal IQ, the RCMAS factors of physiological anxiety (i.e., emotionality) and worry/oversensitivity, and the WIAT total and composite achievement scores were examined to investigate these relationships. Results indicate that anxiety failed, for the most part, to moderate these relationships.