Mediating Effect of Positive Psychological Strength and Study Skills on Examination Anxiety among Nigerian College Students

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

I would have some sugegstions, pointed ones, yet more that are notwritten here.

line : 19
(SSK) has significant and direct relationship towards examination anxiety.
->
(SSK) has a significant and direct effect on examination anxiety.
line 28:
classifying individuals according to their mental make-up,
->
classifying individuals according to their psychological profiles
line 52:
Considering previous studies yet the significant level of adequate and effective study skills among the college students was not attained (Olanipekan 2014).
[not sure how to suggest changes in this one, it is not clear]
line 122:
[not sure what this is about: 'with prediction mediation analysis']
line 124:
(Damanto 2018). [not found in references]
line 143:
[the paragraph starting here seems too long for 1 main idea, I would break it up; same for line 26 and on]
line 198:
The research study formulated following objectives to guide the study as follows:
->
The research review led us to formulate the following objectives for this the study

line 207:
This study has a target population of
-<
This study used as the target population the
line 213:
[not clear for which of the measure this was used: "The scoring pattern in this study was conducted based on frequency distribution between three defined categories of low (0 – 45), moderate (46- 75), high (215 – 100),"]
table 3.1-3.5 need to be re-arranged/reformatted, so that numbers are lined up vertically: it is not readable as such; also these symbols are not explained: "REALSE IMNSQ ZSTD OMNSQ ZSTD|"
[there is not table 3.4]
tables and the results reporting should follow some example from current articles from the journal: e.g. beta coefficient is to be reported with SE, and p value, and so on.
Also, the SEM model needs to be re-drawn, e.g. in Powerpoint, for better readability.

I have other observations, but stopped combing at the results reporting.

Author Response

Reviewer 1

line : 19 
(SSK) has significant and direct relationship towards examination anxiety.
-> Revised as advised
(SSK) has a significant and direct effect on examination anxiety.
line 28: Revised as advised
classifying individuals according to their mental make-up,
-> Revised as advised
classifying individuals according to their psychological profiles
line 52: Revised as advised
Considering previous studies yet the significant level of adequate and effective study skills among the college students was not attained (Olanipekan 2014). Revised as advised
[not sure how to suggest changes in this one, it is not clear]
line 122: Revised as advised
[not sure what this is about: 'with prediction mediation analysis']
line 124: Revised as advised
(Damanto 2018). [not found in references]: Deleted
line 143: 
[the paragraph starting here seems too long for 1 main idea, I would break it up; same for line 26 and on] 
line 198: Revised as advised
The research study formulated following objectives to guide the study as follows:
-> Revised as advised
The research review led us to formulate the following objectives for this the study

line 207: Revised as advised
This study has a target population of
-< Revised
This study used as the target population the
line 213: Revised
[not clear for which of the measure this was used: "The scoring pattern in this study was conducted based on frequency distribution between three defined categories of low (0 – 45), moderate (46- 75), high (215 – 100),"]: Revised
table 3.1-3.5 need to be re-arranged/reformatted, so that numbers are lined up vertically: it is not readable as such; also these symbols are not explained: "REALSE IMNSQ ZSTD OMNSQ ZSTD|"
[there is not table 3.4]: Revised as advised
tables and the results reporting should follow some example from current articles from the journal: e.g. beta coefficient is to be reported with SE, and p value, and so on. : Revised as advised
Also, the SEM model needs to be re-drawn, e.g. in Powerpoint, for better readability.: Revised as advised

Thanks for constructive suggestions, which is very helpful to improve manuscript.

Author Response File: Author Response.doc

Reviewer 2 Report

The paper needs to be improved to be suitable for publication. First of all, English editing is highly recommended. In addition, certain results give the impression that relationships are interpreted as strong indicators of causation. However, correlation is not causation. This may be a false impression that will be solved with English editing, but please verify this issue. Apart from being informed about confidentiality, did the students signed a written informed consent?

Author Response

Reviewer2: 

First of all, English editing is highly recommended. In addition, certain results give the impression that relationships are interpreted as strong indicators of causation. However, correlation is not causation. This may be a false impression that will be solved with English editing, but please verify this issue. Apart from being informed about confidentiality, did the students signed a written informed consent?

Response: English editing done by one of our co[author Associate Professor Dr. Diana from English native country and also done by one of professional in uk. Issues mentioned resolved with proofread. Thanks for constructive suggestions, which is very helpful to improve manuscript.

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Reviewer 3 Report

I'm not sure the title is well-worded. It might sound better:

“Mediating Effect of Positive Psychological Strength between Study Skills and Examination Anxiety among Nigerian College Students”

There are so many technical and lector errors in the paper, which must first be thoroughly corrected, so that further review can be undertaken at all. Just few examples are listed here (of many of them!):

Line 214-17: “However, for this research, NCE 1 students were recruited for this study and researcher used the whole population of 315 students for survey research. KICOE, In order to analyze the levels of examination anxiety among Kashim Ibrahim College of education, a frequency distribution was used to determine the levels of examination anxiety.” - Something’s wrong with the structure of this (these) sentence(s).

Line 252 and Line 265: “relationship (Degn, 2017 [14];.Barratt, et al 2015)” and “Cotterell (2003) [13]”

Line 253: ”and examination anxiety The data”

Line 341: “Table 3.2 indicates person reliability of the positive psychological strengths (PPS) questionnaire shows in table 86”?

Then, what has happened with the numbering and proper naming of the Tables?

And so on…

Citations and Reference list need to be updated in accordance with the Vancouver style (i.e. references must be numbered in order of appearance in the text and listed individually at the end of the manuscript).

In addition, some of the references seem to be out of relevance…

Author Response

There are so many technical and lector errors in the paper, which must first be thoroughly corrected, so that further review can be undertaken at all. Just few examples are listed here (of many of them!): Revised

Line 214-17: “However, for this research, NCE 1 students were recruited for this study and researcher used the whole population of 315 students for survey research. KICOE, In order to analyze the levels of examination anxiety among Kashim Ibrahim College of education, a frequency distribution was used to determine the levels of examination anxiety.” - Something’s wrong with the structure of this (these) sentence(s).Revised

Line 252 and Line 265: “relationship (Degn, 2017 [14];.Barratt, et al 2015)” and “Cotterell (2003) [13]”: Revised

Line 253: ”and examination anxiety The data” : Revised

Line 341: “Table 3.2 indicates person reliability of the positive psychological strengths (PPS) questionnaire shows in table 86”?: responded in comment section: Revised

Then, what has happened with the numbering and proper naming of the Tables? Revised

And so on…

Citations and Reference list need to be updated in accordance with the Vancouver style (i.e. references must be numbered in order of appearance in the text and listed individually at the end of the manuscript). Revised

In addition, some of the references seem to be out of relevance (Reference updated)

Author Response File: Author Response.docx

Round 2

Reviewer 1 Report

The manuscript is improved, but it is difficult to untangle the story, the reading of it stumbles on several wording/clarity bottlenecks; some shown below.
line 231
Initially, the students were given a written informed consent form to signed,
->
Initially, the students were given a written informed consent form to sign,
line 238
The administration of the questionnaire was an insetting
type immediately after the end of
[not clear what "insetting type" means]
line 284
“If I were to take an impotent examination I would worry a great deal about taking
it” (worry).
->“If I were to take an important examination I would worry a great deal about taking
it” (worry).
line 290
anxiety person reliability= 0.73 and item=0.72.
[I am not sure which item the 2nd refers to; some item-average something?]
table 3.1 and next:
not sure what INFIT and IMNSQ and OUTFIT labels/concepts/numbers are; S.D is a common abbreviation, the other ones not.
table 3.5
Display the Weak Level of Positive Psychological Strengths by Logit"
[not sure this is clear in terms of what's in the table; the table should have some notes below, to explain what is in it (what is MALE 65 vs MALE 13?]
Figures
[are not generated in Powerpoint or such, there are some numbers in the circles that are not clear what they are, like 0.000; abbreviations need to be spelled out in some figure notes: what is SSK?)

Author Response

Reviewer 1: The manuscript is improved, but it is difficult to untangle the story, the reading of it stumbles on several wording/clarity bottlenecks; some shown below.

line 231 Initially, the students were given a written informed consent form to signed,
-> Revised
Initially, the students were given a written informed consent form to sign,
line 238 : Revised
The administration of the questionnaire was an insetting
type immediately after the end of [not clear what "insetting type" means] : Revised
line 284 “If I were to take an impotent examination I would worry a great deal about taking it” (worry).: Revised
->“If I were to take an important examination I would worry a great deal about taking it” (worry).Revised
line 290 anxiety person reliability= 0.73 and item=0.72.
[I am not sure which item the 2nd refers to; some item-average something?] : responded on comment section
table 3.1 and next: not sure what INFIT and IMNSQ and OUTFIT labels/concepts/numbers are; S.D is a common abbreviation, the other ones not. responded on comment section
table 3.5 Display the Weak Level of Positive Psychological Strengths by Logit" [not sure this is clear in terms of what's in the table; the table should have some notes below, to explain what is in it (what is MALE 65 vs MALE 13?]: Revised
Figures [are not generated in Powerpoint or such, there are some numbers in the circles that are not clear what they are, like 0.000; abbreviations need to be spelled out in some figure notes: what is SSK?); Revised

Reviewer 2 Report

The authors improved their manuscript. I have no further suggestions to make.

 

 

Author Response

no more correction

Reviewer 3 Report

This is now the much improved version of the initial manuscript submitted.

Author Response

Response: Thanks English language again checked by native English speaker Dr. Diana (Co-author of this paper).

Author Response File: Author Response.doc

Round 3

Reviewer 1 Report

The paper has not improved substantial enough, at least not in terms of trying to make the text readable and clear.
The writing still requires extensive English combing, and does not allow for a effortless reading. I note several of these issues below, but, again, this makes this process of back-and-forth frustrating and leads to wasting time.

line 17 

indices and yardstick to placed student
->
indices and yardsticks to place students

line 68
can build our physical, intellectual, and social abilities
[one should not refer to 'us', but to the population under study: young adults, or so]

line 70
This broadening effect led to the establishment of skills and resources over time.
-> I assume]
This broadening effect can lead to the establishment of skills and resources over time.

line 80
"a mediator has the power by extending a simple causal inference where the predictor causes an outcome, and the mediator intervenes the relationship. "
[this sentence id hard to unpack and try to fix, even; and this reviewer is a mediation 'expert'similar with line 84 below:]
It is important to use the mediator to identify the focal elements of a given theory testing with mediation analysis.

line 81
Therefore, a variable that is influenced by the predictor and in turn influences the outcome is a mediator
->
Specifically, a variable that is influenced by the predictor and in turn influences the outcome is a mediator

line 87
it has the strengths to examine the indirect effects of a research study. I
->
it has the strength to examine the indirect effects of a research study. 

line 89
There are several avenues for researchers, educators, and teachers to inculcate
[cannot grasp the 'inculcate' meaning here]

line 95
there is no relationship between the teaching frequency and the knowledge of positive psychological strengths among the students.
->
and there is little evidence for a relationship between the teaching frequency and the knowledge of positive psychological strengths among students. [and a citation would be needed]
line 97
the various process of classroom activities
->
the various processes involved in classroom activities [a guess]

line 111
concluded that six items on the questionnaire were highly likely to increase the self-efficacies.
[not clear; what questionnaire?]

line 119
The concept of resilience in research has evolved for a long period (Zou et al., 2016).
[this line has no connection with what is written right above: why talking about resilience at this point?]

line 26
College students often portray psychological disposition
->
College students often display psychological disposition [a guess]

line 155
whereas stigma is negatively related to stigma
[this cannot be true]

line 168
Hope is believed to be the emotional situation of positive psychological strengths.
[I would propose that that's not what hope is commonly understood to be, hence who said it would be needed here]

line 176
Furthermore, hope was also identified to be sub-set
->
Furthermore, hope was also identified to be a sub-set

line 178
178 A systematic review of positive p
[this sentence is not finished]

line 191
, such follow:
->
, as follows:

line 203
... research. KICOE, In...
[this word is unconnected to anthing: KICOE]

line 218
form to signed,
->
form to sign,

line 220
Respondents were asked to read the instructions carefully
[this repeats below on line 230]

line 238
The study covers the main variables and the sub-constructs in determining the level and the relationship.
[cannot propose how to revise to make it legible]
line 258:

At this point I stopped, since I have asked authors to make these tables intelligible: I cannot figure out how to read them, and what's reported in them, e.e. 'infit', outfit': what do these labels mean?

Author Response

The paper has not improved substantial enough, at least not in terms of trying to make the text readable and clear.
The writing still requires extensive English combing, and does not allow for a effortless reading. I note several of these issues below, but, again, this makes this process of back-and-forth frustrating and leads to wasting time.

Response: Thanks English language again checked by native English speaker Dr. Diana (Co-author of this paper).

 

line 17 indices and yardstick to placed student 
->indices and yardsticks to place students

Response: Thanks revised.

line 68  can build our physical, intellectual, and social abilities
[one should not refer to 'us', but to the population under study: young adults, or so]

Response: Thanks revised.

line 70 This broadening effect led to the establishment of skills and resources over time.
-> I assume] This broadening effect can lead to the establishment of skills and resources over time.

Response: Thanks revised.

line 80 "a mediator has the power by extending a simple causal inference where the predictor causes an outcome, and the mediator intervenes the relationship. "
[this sentence id hard to unpack and try to fix, even; and this reviewer is a mediation 'expert'similar with line 84 below:]
It is important to use the mediator to identify the focal elements of a given theory testing with mediation analysis.

Response: Thanks revised.

line 81: Therefore, a variable that is influenced by the predictor and in turn influences the outcome is a mediator 
->Specifically, a variable that is influenced by the predictor and in turn influences the outcome is a mediator

Response: Thanks revised.

line 87: it has the strengths to examine the indirect effects of a research study. I
->it has the strength to examine the indirect effects of a research study. 

Response: Thanks revised.

line 89 There are several avenues for researchers, educators, and teachers to inculcate [cannot grasp the 'inculcate' meaning here]

Response: Thanks revised.

 

line 95 there is no relationship between the teaching frequency and the knowledge of positive psychological strengths among the students. 
->and there is little evidence for a relationship between the teaching frequency and the knowledge of positive psychological strengths among students. [and a citation would be needed]

Response: Thanks revised.

line 97 the various process of classroom activities
->the various processes involved in classroom activities [a guess]

Response: Thanks revised.

line 111 concluded that six items on the questionnaire were highly likely to increase the self-efficacies. 
[not clear; what questionnaire?]

Response: Thanks revised.

line 119 The concept of resilience in research has evolved for a long period (Zou et al., 2016).
[this line has no connection with what is written right above: why talking about resilience at this point?]

Response: Thanks revised.

line 26 College students often portray psychological disposition
->College students often display psychological disposition [a guess]

Response: Thanks revised.

line 155 whereas stigma is negatively related to stigma 
[this cannot be true]

Response: Thanks it is deleted.

line 168 Hope is believed to be the emotional situation of positive psychological strengths. 
[I would propose that that's not what hope is commonly understood to be, hence who said it would be needed here]

Response: Thanks revised.

line 176 Furthermore, hope was also identified to be sub-set 
-> Furthermore, hope was also identified to be a sub-set

Response: Thanks revised.

line 178 178 A systematic review of positive p
[this sentence is not finished]

Response: Thanks revised.

line 191, such follow:
->, as follows:

Response: Thanks revised.

line 203... research. KICOE, In... 
[this word is unconnected to anthing: KICOE]

Response: Thanks revised.

line 218 form to signed, 
-> form to sign,

line 220 Respondents were asked to read the instructions carefully 
[this repeats below on line 230]

Response: Thanks revised.

line 238 The study covers the main variables and the sub-constructs in determining the level and the relationship. 
[cannot propose how to revise to make it legible]
line 258:

Response: Thanks revised.

At this point I stopped, since I have asked authors to make these tables intelligible: I cannot figure out how to read them, and what's reported in them, e.e. 'infit', outfit': what do these labels mean?

Response: sorry for  this, actually these tables are result of Rasch Analysis and it is very common infit and outfit  when using Rasch.

Infit means inlier-sensitive or information-weighted fit. This is more sensitive to the pattern of responses to items targeted on the person, and vice-versa. For example, infit reports overfit for Guttman patterns, underfit for alternative curricula or idiosyncratic clinical groups. These patterns can be hard to diagnose and remedy.

Outfit means outlier-sensitive fit. This is more sensitive to responses to items with difficulty far from a person, and vice-versa. For example, outfit reports overfit for imputed responses, underfit for lucky guesses and careless mistakes. These are usually easy to diagnose and remedy.

Author Response File: Author Response.docx