Effectiveness of cognitive-behaviour modification on test-anxious male year 11 high school students

© 1987 Kenneth H. SmithThis study investigated the effectiveness of a multi modal cognitive-behaviour modification counselling treatment with self-reported test-anxious, male, Year 11 high school students. Sixty students were recruited to participate in this study. Thirty students were randomly assigned to a waiting-list control group und did not receive treatment for test anxiety. The remaining 30 students were randomly assigned to one of four treatment subgroups. The students in the subgroups received treatment for test anxiety during eight weekly 45-minute counselling sessions. The dependent variable administered to assess the effectiveness of the treatment was a pre-treatment and post-treatment self-report test anxiety inventory, developed by C. D. Spielberger (1980). This inventory is particularly useful in that it was developed not only to assess total test anxiety, but also, the major components of test anxiety, namely, emotionality and worry. Three hypotheses examined the effectiveness of the treatment intervention in reducing total test anxiety, and the emotionality and worry components of test anxiety. The results of this study supported the hypotheses that the cognitive-behaviour modification counselling treatment is effective in reducing self-reported total test anxiety and the emotional component of test anxiety. However, the data indicated that there was not a significant difference, post-treatment, between the experimental treatment group and the waiting-list control group with regard to the worry component of test anxiety. Suggestions for further research are outlined in the conclusion of this study