A COGNITIVE-BEHAVIORAL GROUP TREATMENT FOR TEST-ANXIOUS ADOLESCENTS

Test anxiety is referring to distress experienced in formal test-taking and social-evaluative situations. Worrisome cognitions appear to be a key factor in test anxiety, and cognitive interference plays a major role in impairing academic performance in test-anxious persons. In the present study the effects of a cognitive behavioural group therapy program on test-anxious high-school students were examined. The treatment was a combination of Rational Emotive Therapy (RET) and gradual in vivo exposure. Students were assigned to either a treatment group (n = 22) or a waiting-list control group (n = 19). The results show, that the treatment was more effective than a waiting-list control condition on most self-report measures. The treatment group reported a greater reduction of test and social anxiety, less frequent negative self-statements and a greater degree of rationality.