Answers for Test Anxiety with Ethan Benore, MD

Podcast Transcript

John Horton:

Hey there, and welcome to another Health Essentials Podcast. I'm John Horton, your host.

Tests are part of growing up for kids. It starts in preschool and never stops until graduation day hits. Your child is going to be continually tested on what they know, whether it's in math, history, science, language arts or some other subject. There's a lot of pressure to succeed, too, and every kid knows it, which explains why test anxiety seems to be at an all-time high.

So what can you do to help your child relax? That's what we're going to find out today when we put pediatric psychologist Ethan Benore to the test. Dr. Benore is one of the many experts at Cleveland Clinic who join our weekly podcast to help families live healthier and happier. So with that, let's grab a number two pencil and start working on answers for test anxiety in kids. Welcome to the podcast, Dr. Benore. Thanks so much for stopping by at the talk shop.

Dr. Ethan Benore:

No, I appreciate you having me. Thank you.

John Horton:

So our focus today is on test anxiety in kids, but this isn't just a talk about school and grades, right? I mean, we're kind of talking about helping your child learn how to handle stresses in life.

Dr. Ethan Benore:

That's correct, yes. So anxiety often shows up with test anxiety or anxiety about performance in several areas. But anxiety, in and of a whole, is just a natural thing that happens in children as well as adults.

It is just your body's attempt, when it senses a potential threat, to gear up energy so that you can perform your best and survive the situation. It just so happens that in today's world, oftentimes, that energy that we feel is more than is needed in the situation, and then we have to work to try to pull back that energy in order to perform our best.

John Horton:

Well, I know that is always hard. I remember enough of my school days and how anxious I got whenever there was a test coming up. So let's kind of start our whole talk on test anxiety with understanding what it is and how parents can tell if their kid is among the many children dealing with it.

Dr. Ethan Benore:

Sure. So what test anxiety is, much like other anxieties, is when your body is perceiving — I talked about perceiving a threat — so perceiving the threat of getting a bad grade, and then your body is over-responding to that by increasing your heart rate, increasing your blood pressure, increasing your respiration, so you're actually taking in a lot of oxygen.

There's a lot of things physically or physiologically that happen inside your body to prepare you for this challenge. The downside is when it's taking a test, most often, we just need to sit still, calmly think about the answers that we've learned in our head in order to succeed. And so there tends to be this disconnect in terms of what your body is doing to prepare you to succeed and what you actually need to do to be successful.

John Horton:

What are some things that parents might see kind of ahead of time that might be a signal that, "Hey, my kid's really dealing with some anxiety going into the test”?

Dr. Ethan Benore:

Sure. So probably the first thing that a parent might notice is avoidance or physical symptoms. And so if your child is starting to talk about not wanting to go to school or not even wanting to study or look at the books, if your child is complaining more of difficulties falling asleep or headaches or stomach aches, those are often common indicators that something else might be going on, and you want to take a closer look. Anxiety could be the culprit. There is about 40% of us that experience anxiety at some point in our lives, and it's good in childhood to get a handle on it and better understand how to take care of it.

John Horton:

Now, we had talked about this a little bit before the podcast, but I take it parents just shouldn't rely on grades to determine whether or not their child's having some anxiety. I mean, you could get an A on a test and be an absolute wreck going into it, right?

Dr. Ethan Benore:

Oh, exactly. And it is a tough balance to think about how much anxiety or how much stress tension, how much energy you need in order to be successful. And so, unfortunately, our academic system … we put a lot of pressure on grades. And so a child who wants to be successful sometimes only capitalizes on the A or the A plus and really misses the mark of education.

And so there's been a lot of work lately about a growth mindset, the idea that you're always learning, you're always growing. And so if you can put forth your best effort and be happy with that experience and the growth that you come ... the growth that you have from that experience, that's much, much better for a child than always getting an A. And so, while it's important, and while we all want the A, sometimes, over-focusing on just the letter grade actually creates too much stress for the child.

John Horton:

So you could get those As and still be dealing with a lot of anxiety.

Dr. Ethan Benore:

Oh, exactly, yes, yes. Before the test and after the test. And I think it's important some children, even after they get a good grade on a test, they may still feel anxious for the next test. And so they're constantly worried about their top performance on the next test, and they're missing the concept of … really, the joy that comes from demonstrating what they know and learning from the experience.

John Horton:

Perfectly said. So since no parent wants their kid to be that much of a nervous wreck going into these tests, let's talk about what we can do to kind of help kids overcome that test anxiety. And let's start with things that you can do around the house on a daily basis to put your child in the best position to succeed.

Dr. Ethan Benore:

Sure. So there's a couple of things on a day-to-day basis that would be helpful. First, I had already talked about the growth mindset, the concept of just taking every experience as something that you can get better from, and that type of positive attitude is helpful when a child is undergoing any challenge.

The second is, I would say, healthy body, healthy brain. And so you need to take care of your body. That means making sure that you're eating right, sleeping right, getting appropriate exercise. Dehydration will affect your performance. Low blood sugar will affect your performance, and if you're not getting enough sleep, that will also affect your performance. And so learning to just take care of the body so that it can perform its best, whether it's a test day or not — a test day is just a good habit to get kids into.

And then the last one that I would probably say is a family focus on learning. Sometimes, parents only talk with their children about school when it is a test day. And so there's a lot of imposed pressure on test days. For parents to constantly talk with their children about what they learned today, what they're excited about learning tomorrow, that also reduces the amount of stress a child may feel when it comes to evaluating what they currently know.

John Horton:

That's such a great tip, and it's something, now I'm thinking about, I wish I would've done more just to ask your child, "Hey, what'd you learn today?" And have them just kind of share a little bit out of the classes, and it helps them, and it helps you connect with them, too.

Dr. Ethan Benore:

Yeah, yeah. Thank you.

John Horton:

Those tips all seem like just a great way to get this ... you get your child in the right frame of mind when they're home and then when they're getting ready to head to class.

So now let's get a little more specific and look at what parents can do to help their children study and kind of fill the brain up with useful info.

Dr. Ethan Benore:

Sure. So people have different study habits. I think it's important for parents to work with their kids to identify the study habits that work best for them. There are new devices, new modules that the education system is coming out with, things that I was not exposed to as a child, but my children have really benefited from. And so, as a parent, it's important to understand how your child learns. You can do that with talking with your child, as well as talking with your child's teacher and then, just continuing to reinforce that at home — healthy study habits regularly.

The other is making sure that your child has distraction-free zones when they are actively working. There are times for play, and there are times for work and helping your child understand that. If it is time to study for a test, then let's take that seriously. We all have times where we have to reduce distractions and focus on the work at hand, and that's not a bad thing. That's not a punishment. It's teaching them, again, good work habits.

I think the other thing that I sometimes talk with families about is peace, hope and love. The idea of, "I don't want you to be too stressed out by this. I want to help you find a sense of calm in your learning." And there's different things that help children calm down. So working with them so that when they are starting to get stressed out about tests, they can approach tests or other challenges with a sense of calm. The second is hope. That concept of, "I believe that you can put your best effort forward, and I will be happy with that." The love comes in as, "I'm going to love you either way, but I want you to calmly approach these challenges in your life knowing that I will support you."

John Horton:

You had mentioned no distractions, and obviously, the big thing that comes to mind with that involves cell phones and kids, I mean, they have them, and sometimes, they're even using them maybe while they're studying or they're looking things up. Where do you draw the line on, kind of, cell phone usage while your child is studying, and should it be with them? Should it be out of the room?

Dr. Ethan Benore:

Right.

John Horton:

How do you handle that?

Dr. Ethan Benore:

So this is where there's a lot of work in psychology to help here. Ideally, your brain is going to do a much better job in coding or learning information in a distraction-free environment. So ideally, that would be no phones, no TVs, no excess chatter, really just quietly focusing on the ... on the task at hand. Now, some individuals will like some soft music or some individuals will like to work in a coffee shop. So we call that white noise in the background, and that can be OK. But in a period of actually studying and encoding information, you want to reduce as much distraction as you can. And so, what I would recommend to parents is really to take the cell phone away during that period of study. And again, it's not a punishment. You are teaching healthy work habits to your child.

John Horton:

Great advice. When we're talking about studying and really kind of diving into your books and notes and all that stuff, should you also encourage your child to step away for a little bit and kind of take a mental break instead of just, I mean, nose to the grindstone the whole time?

Dr. Ethan Benore:

Yeah, definitely. We all could take our noses off the grindstone a little bit here. There's only so much that the brain can focus on for a set period of time. And so the brain naturally needs periods of rest and recovery. And so typically that ... younger children, that might be 30 minutes; older children, that might be 45 minutes where they just have to step away, not for a long period of time, but they do have to step away. And that might be to do chores, that might be to check their phone, that might be to get a snack or just have a nice conversation with you. But stepping away can be very helpful.

The other part about stepping away is, again, we talked about all this energy that builds up. If children are nervous, working out that energy is very helpful. And so it may seem counterproductive to go out and just shoot some hoops when you're supposed to be studying. But if that mental break eases your body and reduces some of that stress and tension so that the next study period, you're in a better state of mind, then it's time well spent.

John Horton:

Shooting hoops always sounds like a great answer, to be honest. So now, it seems like we've got our kid in a great spot coming up to the test. They've been studying. They've been sleeping. They've been eating right? So now, it's the night before the big test. Is there anything special we should do to really get them in a great spot?

Dr. Ethan Benore:

Sure. And some school systems send out emails about this for the larger tests that kids do, but this can be helpful with most tests. I think an important thing to think about with these tests is that it's the pre-work that matters. It's cramming for the night ... cramming the night before a test usually is not the most helpful thing. So calmly reviewing tests in whatever way you like. You can have some fun. You can quiz each other. But to calmly review the materials, I think, is more helpful than cramming.

The second part is just preparing your body for the next day. So reducing a lot of excess stimulation so that you can get to sleep well. And then, the next day, make sure that you're getting appropriate nutrition so that your brain is in the right state of mind to be successful.

John Horton:

All right. Well, you took us right there. So let's go. It's test day.

Dr. Ethan Benore:

OK.

John Horton:

What are the final things we can do to get the kiddos ready?

Dr. Ethan Benore:

OK, so your child is ... did some time reviewing the previous night. They feel kind of confident they slept well. The next day, get up, get a good breakfast, really focus on visualizing success, and you can do this throughout, but imagine yourself being successful and doing your best in school. There is plenty of support for the benefits of this kind of positive imagery for individuals. When you're about to take the test, if you're nervous, take some slow breaths. Just practice calming down. A slow exhale really reduces a lot of tension in the body. And if you're struggling in the middle of a test, same thing. Take a slow breath, let the time pass. Most tests are not timed, and even the ones that are timed, most individuals are not going all the way to the buzzer. So again, learning to manage that arousal that's coming up inside your body when you're taking the test, taking a couple of slow breaths, reminding yourself that you are doing your best, that you have studied for this, staying positive is going to be best on the day of the test.

John Horton:

How important is it to kind of stick to your routine on that? I know, sometimes, people go overboard on a special breakfast or a special thing. And is there a worry that that can sometimes make it more stressful because you're kind of changing things up?

Dr. Ethan Benore:

So I do believe it depends on how individuals take a look at this. Some individuals can be highly focused on a very rigid routine, and then, if the rigidity of that routine gets broken, it can create more stress for them. In those situations, those people should be working on flexibility, again, just to maintain that calm, confident energy. For other individuals who are not so rigid, changing things up and having your breakfast a little bit of a different way, it's not going to change things too much for you. Again, it's about the positive mindset that you're entering the day with.

John Horton:

Well, with all those words of wisdom, I'm pretty sure our kids should be ready to do their best, Dr. Benore. So before we part ways, do you have any other advice regarding students and test anxiety?

Dr. Ethan Benore:

The one thing that I would say about test anxiety or performance anxiety: It happens. It happens everywhere. It happens to all kinds of kids. It happens inside of school, outside of school. Take this as a learning opportunity. You are going to be challenged with different things throughout the course of your life. And tests are just very structured ways to teach your body how to meet and overcome an obstacle that presents itself. And I think if you approach it in that way, you will learn some skills that will help you outside of the classroom as well.

John Horton:

Yeah. And before we say goodbye, is there a time when things get to a certain point where you should reach out and maybe get some extra help for your kid?

Dr. Ethan Benore:

Yeah, thank you for saying that. If a child is struggling so much with anxiety that it's continuing to ... that it, one, it bothers them or, "So I'm so nervous, and I don't even like this feeling of anxiety," then you should seek help. If the anxiety is interfering with other activities, such as, "I don't want to go to school. I don't want to go out and play with my friends. I'm so anxious that I'm irritable, and now I'm arguing with my mom and my dad and my sister because of this excess energy." If you start to notice that the child is bothered by the level of anxiety or if that anxiety is interfering with daily activities, then I would reach out either to your primary care doctor or a mental health professional just to get a closer examination of what your child is experiencing and how best to help your child as an individual.

John Horton:

Dr. Benore, thank you so much for all these great tips and advice. After hearing this, I wish I could go back and retake one of my calculus tests with Mr. Depenbrock back in the day.

Dr. Ethan Benore:

Understood, understood. Thank you for having me. I appreciate it.

John Horton:

It's perfectly normal for kids to get anxious before taking tests at school, but by following the advice from Dr. Benore, you can help your child channel that nervous energy into A-plus results. Until next time, be well.

Speaker 3:

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