The aim of this study is to elucidate the explanatory roles of reading anxiety in relation to reading comprehension performance, while also uncovering the mediating role of reading mistakes. The study employs an explanatory correlational research method. It involves a total of 207 fifth-grade students from both a public school in a city center located in the Southeastern Anatolia Region of Turkey and a private school in a city center located in the Marmara Region of Turkey. Data collection utilized the “Reading Anxiety Scale,” “Reading Mistakes Identification Form,” and “Reading Comprehension Test.” Structural equation modeling was employed to analyze the data, given that the variables involved were latent, and the presence of error in the variables could be determined. The study revealed significant relationships between reading anxiety, reading mistakes, and reading comprehension achievement. Specifically, it was observed that reading anxiety positively predicted reading mistakes and significantly negatively predicted reading comprehension performance. Another key finding from the study indicates that reading mistakes have a significant and negative predictive effect on reading comprehension performance, thus playing a partial mediating role in the relationship between reading anxiety and reading comprehension performance. These results confirm all the hypotheses outlined in the tested theoretical model. Consequently, it can be concluded that reading anxiety contributes to an increase in reading mistakes, and students experiencing higher levels of reading anxiety and committing more reading errors tend to exhibit lower reading comprehension performance.

Reading anxiety, reading mistakes, reading comprehension performance, structural equation modeling.