Effectiveness of cognitive/relaxation therapy and study-skills training in reducing self-reported anxiety and improving the academic performance of test-anxious students.

Abstract

Forty-five test-anxious students were randomly assigned to one of four treatment conditions: (a) relaxation/cognitive therapy, (b) study-skills training, (c) a combination of relaxation/ cognitive therapy and study-skills training, or (d) no treatment. Pretreatment and posttreatment measures were collected on self-reported state anxiety and classroom examination performance. The relaxation/cognitive therapy was found to be effective in reducing anxiety but failed to improve classroom test scores. Study-skills training had no significant effect on either measure. The combined therapy both reduced anxiety and improved performance relative to the no-treatment control condition and was significantly more effective than was either treatment alone.This study was based on a master's thesis completed by the first author (Dendato, 1985) under the supervision of the second.We would like to thank Russell Hurlburt, Frederick Kirschner, and Diane Turnbough, who served on the thesis committee, and Lori Kolbet for her helpful comments and suggestions.

Gender-related worry and emotionality test anxiety for high-achieving students

“…It appears that both anxiety components need to be addressed to reduce anxiety and enhance academic performance. The multimodal anxiety interventions currently being advocated that blend cognitivemotivational processes with relaxation training (Dendato & Diener, 1986;Smith et al, 1990) may prove useful with high-ability students.…”

Test Anxiety

“…Cognitive therapies directed toward the reduction of the worry component of test anxiety have been successful in reducing self-reported anxiety. While cognitive therapies have sometimes been successful in improving the academic performance of test-anxious students, the success has by no means been universal (Dendato & Diener, 1986).…”

Assessment and Intervention Strategies for Test Anxiety in Aviation Students

“…Those who were told that their standing in relation to their peers was higher than the norm tended to set higher goals and performed better than those of equal cognitive ability who were told that their standing was below the norm. Treatment for Test Anxiety Dendato and Diener (1986) found that cognitive and behavior therapies tended to reduce self-reported anxiety but did not improve overall performance, and study-skills training alone did neither. They suggested a combined approach including behavioral therapy, cognitive therapy, and study-skills training to improve performance and reduce TA.…”

“…Their findings were supported by Brewer (2002) who stated that students who perform poorly or below their expected performance on the first examinations tended to experience increased anxiety on later exams. Dendato and Diener (1986) stated that TA, rather than being the cause of poor performance, is a by-product of inadequate study skills which results in low test performance. Culler and Holahan (1 980) found that "at least part of the academic performance decrement (of high testanxious students) may be due to less knowledge of the relevant material as a function of differential study skills" (p. 18).…”

“…The study concludedthat the single-day workshop was as effective in reducing TA as the six-session program (Crowley, et al). Dendato and Diener (1986) conducted a study to determine the benefits of combining study-skills training with relaxation training and cognitive therapy into a TA treatment program. They utilized the TAI (Spielberger, 1980) and the STAI (Spielberger, et al, 1970) to test for TA.…”