Using Systematic Desensitization to Create a Mindfulness Activity for Nursing Students With Test Anxiety.

The purpose of this study was to determine the level of test anxiety among secondary school students in Ilesa East Local Government Area (LGA) of Osun State, Nigeria. It also examined the association between students’ demographic factors and test anxiety in the study area. The study population comprised all Senior Secondary School (SSS) III students in the LGA. A sample of 240 students was selected by stratified sampling technique using school ownership (public and private) as a stratum. An adapted questionnaire titled Students’ Test and Examination Anxiety Measure (STEAM) was used to collect data for the study. The result showed that 50.8% of the respondents had a low level of test anxiety while 49.2% of respondents have a high level of test anxiety, and there was no statistically significant influence on students’ gender (Wald Χ2 = 0. 000, p 0.05) on test anxiety. The study concluded that test anxiety is a physiological condition commonly exhibited by students irrespective of gender. It is recommended that any policy intervention programme to be developed either by the government or private organizations must not be gender biased.

Test anxiety refers to a psychological state of excessive worry, confusion, and nervousness that individuals experience when facing evaluative situations. While moderate anxiety can stimulate students’ enthusiasm, excessive anxiety can have a severe impact on their cognitive abilities and academic performance. Numerous studies have demonstrated that anxiety significantly affects the cognitive processing of second languages, particularly in contexts requiring accurate and fluent communication across different languages. Therefore, this study aims to investigate how test anxiety influences the performance of second language learners in translation, an example of complex cognitive activities. This research involved 95 junior students majoring in English. Data collection took place after the final exam for Chinese-English translation courses. The students’ test anxiety levels were measured using Spielberger’s Test Anxiety Inventory (TAI), and their translation performance was evaluated based on complexity, accuracy, and fluency (CAF). The study findings revealed that test anxiety was widespread among participants, with nearly half exhibiting high levels of test anxiety. Moreover, test anxiety significantly impacted translation performance: the complexity and accuracy of translation tasks were notably affected by the degree of test anxiety and particularly the cognitive component, indicating that higher levels of test anxiety could result in lower complexity and accuracy in translation performance. This outcome confirmed that test anxiety could diminish students’ cognitive processing abilities and translation quality. However, the study did not find a significant correlation between test anxiety and translation fluency, suggesting that test anxiety might have a relatively minor impact on translation fluency.

IntroductionAfter the first case of Covid-19 was emerged in Turkey on March 11, 2020, schools were closed distance education began. On March 21, curfew was declared for people who under the age of 20. Subsequently, the date of the nationwide university exam was changed twice.ObjectivesThis study has two aims. The first goal was to investigate the factors that affect the test anxiety of individuals who will enter the university exam during the Covid-19 outbreak. The second aim was to investigate whether the test anxiety levels of the participants vary according to the level of cognitive flexibility and self-regulation.MethodsThe study consists of 420 (284 women, 131 men and 5 others). The age range of the participants was between 18 and 21, with the mean of 18.33. Exam Anxiety Scale, Adolescent Self-Regulation Skills Scale and Cognitive Flexibility Scale were used to collect data.ResultsThe findings indicated that women’s level of test anxiety was higher than men. Those who do have concentration issues in distance education have high level of test anxiety. Test anxiety was higher for students whose household income decreased because of the pandemic. MANOVA results revealed that individuals with low test anxiety have higher ‘self-regulation successful’ scores and lower ‘self-regulation unsuccessful’ scores. Moreover, it was yielded that people with low test anxiety have higher level of cognitive flexibility.ConclusionsProtective factors such as cognitive flexibility and self-regulation play an important role in individuals’ management of test anxiety.DisclosureNo significant relationships.

Anxiety is a growing concern among college students and often surrounds the required testing that assesses a student’s knowledge and ability to apply this knowledge to situations in nursing. If nursing students’ anxiety is not addressed, this may impact their ability to perform well on exams and be successful in their nursing program. Research supports the idea that anxiety reduction strategies can lower levels of test anxiety for those in nursing programs. The purpose of this study was to assess the level of test anxiety of students in a pre-licensure Bachelor of Science in Nursing program and to examine the use of a brief meditation video on students’ anxiety levels. A pre-test/post-test design was utilized to assess the test anxiety levels of sophomore and senior nursing students at the beginning of the semester and before their first and second exams. The results of this study found that 79.8% of the students (n = 52) reported a moderate to an extremely high level of test anxiety. In addition, there was a statistically significant (p < .000) reduction in anxiety levels at the first and second exams after implementing the meditation video compared to scores at the beginning of the semester. Based on these findings, nursing programs should consider including meditation as a strategy to reduce test anxiety in students. The program was cost-effective and would be easy to implement into a nursing program’s curriculum.

El presente estudio descriptivo tiene como objetivo abordar las reacciones de ansiedad de los estudiantes del CEPRE-UNMSM, Ciclo Ordinario 2012 - I. ante los exámenes se utilizó la escala de ansiedad ante los exámenes – IDASE (Bauermeister, Collazo & Spielberger, 1982), que evalúa los factores emocionalidad y preocupación. Se aplicó a 800 estudiantes haciendo uso de un muestreo no probabilístico intencional. Los resultados obtenidos indicaron que el 27% de los estudiantes presenta un nivel alto de ansiedad ante los exámenes, mientras que el 33.38% y 39.63% posee un nivel bajo y moderado, respectivamente. Asimismo, existe un mayor nivel de ansiedad en el sexo femenino (17.13%) sobre el masculino (9.88%), así como también, mayor ansiedad en los postulantes a Medicina Humana, Derecho y Administración.

The general issue of children’s mental health has become a growing concern in the UK in recent decades. There has been a specific concern about the increased stringency and pressure of formal educational assessments with some students reported as, experiencing high levels of test anxiety. This paper investigated a school-based test anxiety intervention Beating Exam Anxiety Together (BEAT) developed by educational psychologists from Kent EPS and delivered to two secondary (high) schools in the North-West of England for students aged 15–16 years. No comparison group was used, instead single participant cases were observed at two points: one before the delivery of BEAT and another after the intervention. A mixed methods approach was employed to provide a rich account on how the intervention was delivered. Quantitative data from the experimental study, using the Revised Test Anxiety Scale (RTA), show that 13 out of 14 participants reported a reduction in test anxiety post intervention. Qualitative data strongly support the quantitative findings, highlighting that participants feel better equipped to manage their test anxiety levels and feel better prepared to cope in an exam situation. Implications for pastoral staff supporting in schools, and future research, are considered.

Students’ academic achievement in courses with a high mathematical content can be affected by their levels of trait, math and test anxiety. In this study, 180 university students were assessed on these types of anxiety and the relationships between them and students’ performance were evaluated. Higher levels of math anxiety were related to a low academic achievement, but a high level of test anxiety was related only to an increase in the number of errors. Moreover, although women reported higher levels of trait, math and test anxiety than their male peers, their academic achievement was similar. We conclude that math anxiety is the main emotional factor that can affect students’ performance in these courses and some proposals to help highly math-anxious students are discussed.

Test anxiety refers to the tendency to appraise tests and test-like situations, where performance is evaluated, as threatening and respond with high levels of state anxiety. High levels of test anxiety are associated with lower performance on test and examinations, and may also meet diagnostic criteria for clinical anxiety. In this paper we review: (i), the importance of the test anxiety construct and consider whether test anxiety may constitute a risk factor for clinical anxiety, (ii), the theoretical antecedents of test anxiety, with a specific focus on the Self-Regulatory Executive Function (S-REF) Processing Model, and (iii), interventions for test anxiety in adolescents, with a specific focus on one cognitive-behavioural intervention, Strategies to Tackle Exam Pressure and Stress (STEPS). We bring the review to a close with a consideration of what the next steps might fruitfully be for research, theory, and intervention, and conclude there is much work still yet to be done in the field of test anxiety.

Prior neurostimulation research has underscored the importance of the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) in the modulation of autonomic nervous system responses, with activation of this region significantly enhancing heart rate variability (HRV) – a key indicator of autonomic flexibility. High test anxiety (HTA) individuals often demonstrate diminished HRV in evaluative scenarios, signalling reduced physiological adaptability to stress. This study investigates the effects of offline high-definition transcranial direct current stimulation (HD-tDCS) targeting the left DLPFC on nonlinear HRV measures in individuals with high levels of test anxiety. Two experiments were conducted: Experiment 1 measured HRV in 23 HTA participants before and after HD-tDCS application. Experiment 2 replicated the tDCS protocol with 24 participants with low test anxiety (LTA). Significant enhancement in nonlinear HRV post-HD-tDCS was observed in HTA group, whereas no notable changes were reported in HRV among LTA group. These results indicate that HD-tDCS targeting the left DLPFC may be an effective intervention for managing test anxiety, as it appears to improve autonomic regulation in individuals experiencing high anxiety levels.

Emotions experienced during online academic examinations may differ from emotions experienced in the traditional classroom testing situation. Students in a Psychology of Learning course ( n = 61) completed assessments of emotions before and after a quiz in each of the following settings: online at their own choice of time and location; online in a library computer lab at a fixed time; and in the regular classroom setting. Students low in classroom test anxiety had significantly higher test anxiety levels when taking a quiz online, whereas students who experienced high levels of anxiety in the classroom had similarly high levels of test anxiety across all conditions. Notably, the correlation between test anxiety and performance was weaker in the online conditions than in the classroom condition. Furthermore, the online assessment of student learning may be accompanied by significant changes in emotion.

High levels of test anxiety can be damaging for academic achievement, wellbeing, and mental health. It is important, therefore, to consider those psychological attributes that may offer protection against the development of test anxiety and its negative consequences, thereby contributing to a potential positive future life trajectory. Academic buoyancy, the ability to respond effectively to academic pressures and setbacks, is one such attribute that offers protection from high test anxiety. We begin by defining test anxiety and a brief review of the literature to consider the harmful nature of test anxiety. This is followed by a definition of academic buoyancy and brief review of the literature to consider the beneficial character of academic buoyancy. Next, we describe the Self-Regulatory Executive Function model of test anxiety and consider the mechanisms and processes by which academic buoyancy exerts beneficial effects on test anxiety. The paper concludes with a consideration of critical issues for the conceptualisation and measurement of academic buoyancy, arising from the synergies, connections, and relations, theorised with test anxiety, and how these may inform future studies.

BackgroundHigh stress levels amongst undergraduates (particularly in relation to assessment) and efforts to improve mental wellbeing have been increasingly reported in the veterinary educational literature. However reports to date have primarily focused on the experiences of students of veterinary medicine, rather than veterinary nursing students.MethodsThe purpose of this mixed method sequential explanatory study was to establish the “Big-five” personality traits and quantify the level of test anxiety associated with objective structured clinical examinations (OSCEs) amongst a cohort of 23 final year veterinary nursing students at an Irish third level college. The 12 item Brief FRIEDBEN Test Anxiety Scale (B-FTAS) and the 20 item mini International Personality Item Pool (mini-IPIP) were used to identify test anxiety levels and personality traits in this cohort. Focus groups were then employed to examine the effectiveness of a coaching intervention in ameliorating this test anxiety.ResultsThe initial, quantitative, phase found these students to have higher levels of test anxiety than previously reported for undergraduates sitting written examinations. No association was found between test anxiety and neurotic personality traits in this student cohort. In the qualitative follow up phase the coaching intervention was reported to have been helpful in equipping the students to better manage test anxiety. The OSCE stressors identified in this study closely resembled those previously reported by nursing and midwifery students.ConclusionsThe shared experience of the coaching intervention and formative OSCE was reported to have been helpful in empowering the students to manage assessment-associated anxiety. Implications and recommendations for educators were identified.

Introduction: Exam anxiety is characterized by a combination of bodily symptoms, such as overarousal, tension, and somatic symptoms; mental symptoms, such as concern, dread, and fear of failing; and physical symptoms, similar to catastrophizing. According to recent research, test anxiety affects anywhere between 25% and 40% of students. Self-distraction, denial, substance use, behavioral disengagement, emotional support, venting, humor, acceptance, self-blame, religion, active coping, the use of instrumental support, positive reframing, and planning have all been claimed to be successful coping mechanisms. Aim and Objectives: This study aimed to assess the test anxiety levels and related coping strategies in medical students. Materials and Methods: A total of 106 medical students of a tertiary care teaching hospital were included between September 2022 and January 2023. The students who consented to participate in the study were asked to complete the self-administered questionnaire consisting of parts on sociodemographic profile, Westside Test Anxiety Scale, and Brief Coping Orientation to Problems Experienced Scale. Results: Males had 38.1%, 35.7%, and 26.7% of average, moderate, and high levels of test anxiety and females reported of 43.8%, 34.4%, and 21.9%, respectively. Conclusion: Academic factors are greater perceived cause of anxiety in medical students. Interventions must be developed and implemented to target particular stressors to reduce the burden and anxiety on students from the 1st year itself. Early screening and interventions of test anxiety among medical students were warranted.

School examination or test describes as an evaluative situation that requires students to do some task with certain limit of time and in a propriate place. Other wise, test or exam is one significant factors that influence higher level of test anxiety, so some students might fail on the test. Self efficacy plays an important role toward academic consistency, academic adjustment, better learning strategy and good academic function. The aim of this study is to decrease test anxiety and increase self efficacy among students with group therapy. The participant of this study characterized by high level of test anxiety and low self efficacy.. This study use single case AB design with 3 steps of measurement : baseline, 4 session execution and follow up. The results shown that group therapy effective to decreasing level of test anxiety and increasing level of self efficacy among college students.

Objectives:In an educational setting, anxiety is often experienced by students when taking a test; which is called ‘test anxiety’. This study intends to investigate the effect of doing pranayama on test anxiety and test performance.Materials and Methods:The participants consisted of 107 MA students who were randomly assigned to the control and experimental groups. The students of the experimental group practiced pranayama for one full semester. Sarason's (1980) test anxiety scale was given to both the control and experimental groups in the final session, before taking the examination.Results:After practicing pranayama, only 33% of the participants of the experimental group experienced high test anxiety, while this percentage was nearly twice in the control group (66.7%). Furthermore, the result of the t-test for test anxiety and test performance showed that the students of the experimental group had significantly lower mean test anxiety scores (M = 16.00) as compared to the students of the control group (M = 19.31). Also, the test performance scores of the experimental group were higher when compared with the control group. There was a negative correlation between the final test performance and test anxiety (r = −.204, P < .05).Conclusions:Pranayama seems to have a significant positive effect on test anxiety and test performance. It could be used as an important technique by students prior to their examinations, to reduce their test anxiety and increase their test performance.