Prevalence of Examination Anxiety among Undergraduates: Implications for Counselling

Abstract

The paper examined the prevalence of examination anxiety among undergraduates and its implications for counselling. The study employed a cross-sectional survey design in which 368 students were sampled from a population of 8,989 (male 60.6%; female 39.4%) undergraduates at Federal University Gusau (FUGUS) following a stratified random sampling technique. Data were obtained via an instrument called the University Examination Anxiety Scale (UEAS) whose reliability coefficient of 0.699 was estimated through the Cronbach Alpha statistic. Five null hypotheses were tested with t-test and Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) at 0.05 significance. Findings from the study revealed a significant prevalence of examination anxiety among undergraduates. Whereas the prevalence of examination anxiety did not differ with respect to gender, age group, and students-faculty, a significant difference was however established among the various levels of the undergraduate programme in the university. The implication of these findings for counselling is that the tension induced by test anxiety needs to be reduced to enable the students concentrate on their examination. This could be achieved by employing biofeedback and psycho-education approaches. The study recommends among others that counsellors should empower undergraduate students with simple strategies to reduce examination anxiety such as mindfulness techniques and simple deep breathing exercises.