SRCD 2005

Report Cards: A Universal Source of Anxiety for Children?

Asil Ali Özdoğru, Chin-Cheng Kao, Joan Newman, and John J. Johnson

The present cross-cultural study examined how children themselves and their parents responded to their report cards and how it relates to their anxiety level. Fourth grade elementary school students from predominantly middle class schools in Taiwan (n = 291), Turkey (n = 90), and USA (n = 189) completed the Revised Children’s Manifest Anxiety Scale (RCMAS) and a report card reaction questionnaire developed by the researchers. The report card questionnaire asked children to report their own reactions and parents’ reactions to their last report card by selecting among 32 statements with positive and negative connotations. Results showed that perceived pressure for academic achievement subsequent to receipt of the report card was associated with children’s manifest anxiety levels. Children’s self perceptions about their report cards were more influential on their anxiety levels than their perceptions of parental reactions. Male students’ report card reactions had a closer association to their anxiety levels than female students’ in each country.

Keywords: Academic achievement, report cards, anxiety, parental reactions

Citation: Özdoğru, A. A., Kao, C.-C., Johnson, J., & Newman, J. (2005, April). Report cards: A universal source of anxiety for children? Poster presented at the biennial meeting of the Society for Research in Child Development, Atlanta, GA.