PATTERNS AND SOURCES OF ANXIETY IN ELEMENTARY STUDENT TEACHERS

The purpose of this study was to describe trends for anxiety intensity and patterns and trends for the sources of anxiety experienced by elementary education student teachers.;The results of the study indicated that an individual's trait anxiety level influenced scores for state anxiety, and that three distinct trend lines were evident for fluctuations in state anxiety scores when trait anxiety levels were considered. Additionally, linear trend lines were evidenced for three of the sources of student teacher anxiety; a cubic trend was evidenced for one of the sources of student teacher anxiety, and no trend was evidenced for four of these sources. Additionally, there was clear evidence for the existence of a hierarchy of concerns for each of the eight weeks of student teaching.;Teacher certification candidates enrolled in the elementary education program at the University of Colorado in Boulder (CUB) completed two survey instruments each week of their student teaching assignment. The two instruments used were the State Trait Anxiety Inventory Form X1 (STAI-X1) to assess state anxiety levels, and the Student Teacher Anxieties and Concerns Form (STAC) to report levels of concern for the eight sources of student teacher anxiety. Trend analyses were used to characterize fluctuations in STAI-X1 and STAC scores, and repeated measures analyses and other statistical contrasts were made to identify a hierarchy of concerns for the sources of anxiety. Additionally, multivariate analyses were made to ascertain if scores on the STAI-X1 or STAC were influenced by selected personological variables.