Effects of cognitive behavioral therapy with relaxation vs. imagery rescripting on test anxiety: A randomized controlled trial.

BACKGROUND

Test anxiety is a common condition in students, which may lead to impaired academic performance as well as to distress. The primary objective of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of two cognitive-behavioral interventions designed to reduce test anxiety. Test anxiety in the participants was diagnosed as social or specific phobia according to DSM-IV. Subsequently subjects were randomized to three groups: a moderated self-help group, which served as a control group, and two treatment groups, where either relaxation techniques or imagery rescripting were applied.

METHODS

Students suffering from test anxiety were recruited at two German universities (n=180). The randomized controlled design comprised three groups which received test anxiety treatment in weekly three-hour sessions over a period of five weeks. Treatment outcome was assessed with a test anxiety questionnaire, which was administered before and after treatment, as well as in a six-month follow-up.

RESULTS

A repeated-measures ANOVA for participants with complete data (n=59) revealed a significant reduction of test anxiety from baseline to six-month follow-up in all three treatment groups (p<.001).

LIMITATIONS: Participants were included if they had a clinical diagnosis of test anxiety. The sample may therefore represent only more severe forms of text anxiety . Moreover, the sample size in this study was small, the numbers of participants per group differed, and treatment results were based on self-report. Due to the length of the treatment, an implementation of the group treatments used in this study might not be feasible in all settings.

CONCLUSIONS

Group treatments constitute an effective method of treating test anxiety, e.g. in university settings. Imagery rescripting may particularly contribute to treatment efficacy.