Secular trends refer to increasing or decreasing mental health problems over time. For the German-speaking area, studies on this subject are rare, especially those concerning changes in the magnitude of anxiety. The three available German studies show a mixed pattern regarding an increase in scores of internalizing problems. In two of those studies, anxiety was assessed confounded with features of depression. The goal of the present study was to use a measure that specifically taps anxiety in order to examine a change in anxiety scores over a period of 42 years. We analyzed norm data of a German self-report questionnaire of anxiety (AFS; Wieczerkowski et al., 1974, 2016) that measures test anxiety (subscale "Prüfungsangst"), manifest anxiety (subscale "Manifeste Angst"), school reluctance (subscale "Schulunlust"), as well as social desirability (subscale "Soziale Erwünschtheit"). The norm sample of 1974 consisted of 2,374 children and adolescents (49% girls, aged 9-17) and the sample of 2016 comprised 2,267 children and adolescents (50% girls, aged 9-17). Results show that the mean scales scores on test anxiety and manifest anxiety are significantly lower in the 2016 sample than in the 1974 sample. However, effect sizes are small in test anxiety (d = 24) and negligible in manifest anxiety (d = .09). Interestingly, children and adolescents in the 2016 sample scored significantly higher on school reluctance and social desirability. Here the difference reached a small-to-medium (school reluctance; d = -.39) and a medium effect (social desirability, d = -.45). Thus, children and adolescents reported, on one hand, that they have less test anxiety; on the other hand, they dislike school more and tend more to present themselves in a positive manner. In absolute numbers, the discrepancies are relatively small: On average, the ratings in test anxiety are about one point lower, and the ratings in school reluctance as well as in social desirability are about one point higher. Over the period of 42 years, no or only a slight decrease in the anxiety scores can be found. In light of the growing aspiration toward achieving better grades seen over the past decades, we originally expected that children and adolescents in the 2016 sample would score higher in test anxiety than the participants in the 1974 sample. The contradictory result could be explained by the increase in school reluctance and social desirability. Children and adolescents of 2016 may compensate for higher expectations that usually result in higher anxiety with higher school displeasure and social desirability.