Personality, social support, and anxiety among adolescents preparing for university entrance examinations in turkey

This study aimed to investigate the importance of different sources of perceived social support, sociotropic and autonomic personality dispositions, achievement expectation, and importance of academic achievement in predicting anxiety symptoms of male and female students who were preparing for the university entrance exam. Three hundred and forty students with ages varying from 16 to 21 participated in the study. Separate multiple regression analyses were run for males and females in predicting anxiety symptoms. The total Sociotropy score and the total Social Support score predicted anxiety for females, whereas for males, anxiety was predicted by four variables, namely, Achievement Expectancy, Concern over Approval, Social Support from Family, and Social Support from Friends. Implications of these results were discussed. This study was supported by the Turkish Academy of Sciences under the Young Scientist Award Program. (TG-TUBA-GEB>P/2002-l-ll).