Single-session expressive writing interventions for test anxiety: a meta-analysis

Results of 562 studies were integrated by meta-analysis to show the nature, effects, and treatment of academic test anxiety. Effect sizes were computed through the method invented by Glass ( Glass, McGaw, & Smith, 1981 ). Correlations and effect-size groups were tested for consistency and significance with inferential statistics by Hedges and Olkin (1985) . Test anxiety (TA) causes poor performance. It relates inversely to students’ self-esteem and directly to their fears of negative evaluation, defensiveness, and other forms of anxiety. Conditions (causes) giving rise to differential TA levels include ability, gender, and school grade level. A variety of treatments are effective in reducing test anxiety. Contrary to prior perceptions, improved test performance and grade point average (GPA) consistently accompany TA reduction.

Test anxiety is a condition that affects an individual's performance in evaluating their skills. There are various treatment options for test anxiety, however there is still no consensus on these treatment options yet. There are a considerable number of studies in the literature showing that Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) is effective in the treatment of test anxiety. However, as in the case we will present, comorbidities are frequently seen as a confounding factor. In our case report, our 19-year-old patient had comorbid PTSD (Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder) along with test anxiety as a confounding factor. EMDR was applied to the patient for test anxiety and 1-year follow-up results were described. Our report recommends EMDR therapy as a new treatment alternative for the successful treatment and follow-up of test anxiety. Verbal and written consent was obtained from the patient for the case report. Keywords: Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing, EMDR, Test Anxiety, Exam Anxiety, Psychotherapy, Treatment.

Metronome-conditioned hypnotic-relaxation in the treatment of test anxiety

This study aims to introduce the Students’ Test Anxiety Prevention Program (STAPP), an intervention for test anxiety for university students in Iraq. We also evaluated its effectiveness against test and state anxiety. The STAPP is a short three-session intervention program comprising expressive emotional dialog, psychoeducation, and educational and cognitive–behavioral therapy techniques. Numerous studies have shown the effectiveness of cognitive–behavioral techniques among other populations; however, most interventions in Iraq focus on posttraumatic stress disorder. In this explanatory sequential mixed-methods study, we used an experimental design in the quantitative phase and conducted a focus group discussion in the qualitative phase. The study was conducted among a sample of Iraqi university students, as there is scarce research on test anxiety interventions among the Iraqi student population. Convenience sampling was used to select 60 participants—35 women and 25 men—randomly assigned to the control or intervention groups. The test-retest approach was used to compare test scores and state anxiety for both groups. The focus group discussion included seven members from the intervention group. The results suggest that STAPP is effective in reducing test anxiety. However, no significant changes were observed in state anxiety in the post-test phase. State anxiety is transient, whereas test anxiety represents a persistent trait. Participants displayed elevated levels of state anxiety, which may be attributed to coronavirus disease 2019-related stressors. Intervention programs should include exercises that facilitate transferring and generalizing learned material in various anxiety-provoking situations.

Test anxiety can have a deleterious impact on academic achievement and adversely affect adolescent well‐being, both concurrently and in later life. The current study explored the use of compassionate mind training (CMT) as a school‐based intervention for test anxiety among adolescents. Participants were 47 adolescents, aged 16–17 years, attending a post‐primary school in the UK and enrolled to take qualifications beyond compulsory education. Participants were quasi‐randomly allocated on the basis of timetable availability into an intervention group that received eight sessions of CMT (n = 22) or a control group (n = 25). Participants in both groups completed pre‐ and post‐intervention measures of test anxiety, general anxiety and self‐compassion. Attendance and retention rates were used as an index of intervention feasibility. The findings indicated that CMT was a feasible and effective intervention. Adolescents receiving CMT showed significant reductions in test anxiety and general anxiety, as well as a significant improvement in self‐compassion following the intervention compared with the control group. The findings highlight the potential value of CMT in supporting young people suffering from test anxiety in schools. The implications for counselling practice are discussed.

A randomised placebo-controlled trial of a self-help Internet-based intervention for test anxiety

A review of the literature concerning the self-report test anxiety scales and treatment of test anxiety was conducted. The various popular self-report test anxiety instruments were examined with attention given to the reliability and validity status of the scales. Treatment studies were reviewed, with attention being paid to both the outcomes presented and the designs used. Treatments directed toward test worry were more effective in reducing self-reported test anxiety and increasing grades than treatments directed toward test emotionality. Self-reported test anxiety was found to decrease as a result of most treatment including pseudotherapy.

Despite a large body of international literature concerning the antecedents, correlates of and treatments for test anxiety, there has been little research until recently using samples of students drawn from the UK. There is a need to establish some basic normative data for test anxiety scores in this population of students, in order to establish whether international research findings may generalize to UK schoolchildren. To collect some exploratory data regarding test anxiety scores in a sample of UK schoolchildren, along with socio-demographic variables identified in the existing literature as theoretically significant sources of individual and group differences in test anxiety scores. Key Stage 4 students (1348): 690 students in the Year 10 cohort and 658 students in the Year 11 cohort, drawn from seven secondary schools in the North of the UK. Data on test anxiety were collected using a self-report questionnaire, the Test Anxiety Inventory (Spielberger, 1980) and additional demographic variables through the Student Profile Questionnaire. The factor structure of the Test Anxiety Inventory was explored using principal components analysis and multiple regression analysis used to predict variance in self-reported test anxiety scores from individual and group variables. The principal components analysis extracted two factors, worry and emotionality, in line with theoretical predictions. Gender, ethnic and socio-economic background were identified as significant predictors of variance in test anxiety scores in this dataset. Whether English was an additional, or native, language of students did not predict variance in test anxiety scores and year group was identified as a predictor of emotionality scores only. Variance in the test anxiety scores of Key Stage 4 students can be predicted from a number of socio-demographic variables. Further research is now required to assess the implications for assessment performance, examination arrangements and appropriateness of using a North American measure of test anxiety in a UK context.

A report is given of a behavioral group training of secondary school pupils to reduce test anxiety. After a brief description of trends in the treatment of test anxiety, the selection of the pupils, the methods of evaluation, and the treatment program are described. Training takes eight sessions plus homework assignments. Administration of (test) anxiety inventories was repeated. After treatment scores on test anxiety decreased significantly. Comparison of the test scores in the waiting-list control group with those of the trained group after training shows improvement at retest. At follow-up after 12 wk. decrease in anxiety in the trained group is even greater.

This study investigated the effects of a novel, classroom-based emotion self-regulation program (TestEdge) on measures of test anxiety, socioemotional function, test performance, and heart rate variability (HRV) in high school students. The program teaches students how to self-generate a specific psychophysiological state--psychophysiological coherence--which has been shown to improve nervous system function, emotional stability, and cognitive performance. Implemented as part of a larger study investigating the population of tenth grade students in two California high schools (N = 980), the research reported here was conducted as a controlled pre- and post-intervention laboratory experiment, using electrophysiological measures, on a random stratified sample of students from the intervention and control schools (N = 136). The Stroop color-word conflict test was used as the experiment's stimulus to simulate the stress of taking a high-stakes test, while continuous HRV recordings were gathered. The post-intervention electrophysiological results showed a pattern of improvement across all HRV measures, indicating that students who received the intervention program had learned how to better manage their emotions and to self-activate the psychophysiological coherence state under stressful conditions. Moreover, students with high test anxiety exhibited increased HRV and heart rhythm coherence even during a resting baseline condition (without conscious use of the program's techniques), suggesting that they had internalized the benefits of the intervention. Consistent with these results, students exhibited reduced test anxiety and reduced negative affect after the intervention. Finally, there is suggestive evidence from a matched-pairs analysis that reduced test anxiety and increased psychophysiological coherence appear to be directly associated with improved test performance--a finding consistent with evidence from the larger study.

Background: Test anxiety significantly impairs academic performance and well-being. Emotional schema therapy (EST), which targets maladaptive emotional beliefs, presents a potential intervention. Objectives: This study aimed to assess the effectiveness of EST on test anxiety and associated psychological factors — academic self-efficacy, distress tolerance, and academic resilience — in female high school students. Methods: This study employed an experimental, pre-test/post-test control group design over a 10-week period. The participants were female high school students in Ahvaz, Iran, during the 2023 academic year, with moderate test anxiety, selected via cluster random sampling. Forty eligible students were randomly assigned to either the experimental group (n = 20), which received ten weekly 90-minute EST sessions, or the control group (n = 20), which received no intervention during the study period. Measures included the Test Anxiety Inventory (TAI), Distress Tolerance Scale (DTS), Academic Self-efficacy Questionnaire (ASEQ), and Academic Resilience Questionnaire. Analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) was used for data analysis. Results: Compared to the control group, the findings indicated that EST significantly increased distress tolerance, academic self-efficacy, and academic resilience, while significantly reducing test anxiety in the experimental group at post-test (P < 0.001). Conclusions: Emotional schema therapy effectively reduced test anxiety and improved related psychological factors — distress tolerance, self-efficacy, and resilience — in the participating female high school students. The EST shows promise as an intervention for test anxiety in this population, meriting further investigation into its long-term effects and applicability in diverse settings.

Several procedures have been used to produce relaxation and thus reduce test anxiety. The purpose of this study was to compare three types of treatment of test anxiety: applied relaxation, cognitive cue-controlled relaxation, and conditioned cue-controlled relaxation. Also, cognitive and conditioning explanations for the two cue-controlled treatments were explored Subjects were female undergraduates ( N = 18) scoring in the upper 15% of the distribution of 1,055 students completing the Suinn Test Anxiety Behavior Scale. Pre- and post-treatment scores on several self-report and performance measures of anxiety were used to evaluate the efficiency of each technique. Most statistically significant changes were obtained in the applied relaxation group. No significant differences were found between the two cue-controlled procedures used in the study. Recommendations concerning future investigations are discussed; specific procedural modifications for future studies are outlined.

Systematic desensitization, relaxation-training and suggestion in the treatment of test anxiety

This study evaluated the efficacy of rational-emotive imagery as a component of rational-emotive therapy in reduction of college students' test anxiety. 11 volunteers met for 6 1-hr. group treatment sessions over a 3-wk. period. After 2 initial treatment sessions subjects were randomly assigned to groups given either rational-emotive therapy with rational-emotive imagery or rational-emotive therapy without imagery. Contrary to predictions, improvement between groups on self-report and performance measures was nonsignificant. Failure to obtain differences was attributed to similarities in content of treatment sessions and short treatment time. Combined groups reported significant improvement on all dependent measures. Although the study did not yield the predicted benefits of the imagery, results lend further support to the efficacy of rational-emotive therapy procedures in the reduction of test anxiety.

The effectiveness of relaxation as self-control in the treatment of test anxiety was evaluated using each of 11 volunteer college students as his own control. Anxiety level was unchanged over the no-treatment period. Significant reduction in self-reported debilitating test anxiety and improvement in facilitating test anxiety were found after treatment. Significant posttreatment reductions were noted for other anxieties as well. This latter finding suggested that during training in relaxation as self-control Ss may have learned a general, trans-situational anxiety-reduction strategy. Extensions using measures other than self-reports of anxiety, however, are required.