Exam Anxiety in Romanian Students: A Preliminary Validation of the Westside Test Anxiety Scale

Exam anxiety can influence academic performance, which requires the use of valid psychometric tools. This pilot study evaluated the test-retest reliability and linguistic equivalence of the Westside Test Anxiety Scale (WTAS) among Romanian students. The scale was translated and revised, and the questionnaire was administered online, in two stages, at an interval of two weeks, analyzing the data of 39 students who completed both administrations. The results indicated moderate to good reliability, with greater stability in the English version (r = 0.516 - 0.763) than in the Romanian version (r = 0.495 - 0.873), and linguistic equivalence was confirmed by high correlations between versions (r = 0.565 - 0.928). However, certain items in the Romanian version showed high variability, suggesting the need for a revision of the translation. This pilot research supports the use of WTAS in Romanian, but recommends adjustments for clarity, and future studies will target a larger sample and controlled administration, to obtain more robust data on the validity of the scale.