1. Negating the Nerves: Reducing Test Anxiety with Expressive Writing
DJ Heim, Mason Gaspard, Taylor Cook, Erin Walker, Austin Nale, Bailey Hart, Carly Yadon,
Erin Buchanan, Shannon Hayden, and Adena Young-Jones
Purpose
Results
Method
Test anxiety is “the set of phenomenological, physiological, and behavioral responses that accompany concern about possible failure on an exam” (Zeidner, 1998). This construct adversely affects the ability to adequately retain academically-relevant information, which can reduce both GPAs and psychological well-being (American College Health Association, 2013). A majority of students report that coursework has at least some influence on their level of stress (mtvU-Associated Press/Edison Media, 2008), and the incidence of academic stress appears to be increasing annually (mtvU-Associated Press/Edison Media, 2009). Past studies suggest that contemplative practices may help alleviate stress attributed to upcoming tests. In particular, expressive writing has emerged as a method with promise in the goal of ameliorating test stress (Ming-Li, 2014; Ramirez & Beilock 2011). This study expands knowledge of test anxiety and introspective practices that aim to address it.
University students (N = 219) enrolled in an upper level psychology course arrived 30 minutes prior to their scheduled final exam. Participants responded to three scales:
Mindful Attention Awareness Scale (MAAS)
14-Item Resilience Scale (RS-14)
Cognitive Test Anxiety Scale (CTA)
After completing the packet, students attended an examination preparation activity and were randomly assigned to one of the three groups and responded to the PANAS (pre and post intervention):
Guided Mindfulness Recording
Expressive Free Write Task
Control Writing Activity
Discussion
Our results reveal that there is a slight increase in positive mood for the expressive writing condition comparing pre- to post-intervention. Contrarily, there is a slight decrease in positive mood for the control and mindful conditions. A possible explanation for could be that students could not perceive a difference between the mindful and control condition due to lack of exposure to mindfulness practices. The control condition consisted of sitting at a desk doing nothing for ten minutes, which could increase boredom, and therefore, decrease positive mood. The results also show that negative mood decreases after the intervention in all conditions. Additionally, none of the interventions had a substantial effect on exam grades. Future studies should focus on employing a more comprehensive method for measuring mood, target different topics of expressive writing as interventions, and increase the sample size.
Background Literature
Test anxiety is a pervasive impediment, extending indiscriminately—though varying—across cultures (Bodas, 2005).
Symptoms of test anxiety are both psychological (i.e., unhealthy worrying hindering one’s ability to perform as they hoped) and physiological (e.g., increased heart rate, tremors, nausea; Stober, 2004).
Individuals with high test anxiety are more likely to have weaker emotional working memory (Shi et al., 2014), which is negatively correlated with exam grade (Ackerman & Heggestad, 1997).
Mindfulness meditation (Oman et al., 2008) and expressive writing (Ramirez & Beilock, 2011) have been shown to reduce test anxiety and improve academic performance.
Correspondence: Adena Young-Jones