scholarly journals Does expressive writing or an instructional intervention reduce the impacts of test anxiety in a college classroom?

2021 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sarah J. Myers ◽  
Sara D. Davis ◽  
Jason C. K. Chan
Keyword(s):  
Stereotype Threat ◽  
Test Anxiety ◽  
Expressive Writing ◽  
Negative Impact ◽  
Cost Effective ◽  
Exam Performance ◽  
Instructional Intervention ◽  
Control Task ◽  
Psychology Class ◽  
Effective Interventions

AbstractTest anxiety is a major concern in education because it causes uncomfortable feelings in test-anxious students and may reduce the validity of exam scores as a measure of learning. As such, brief and cost-effective interventions are necessary to minimize the negative impact of test anxiety on students’ academic performance. In the present experiment, we examine two such interventions: expressive writing (Experiment 1) and an instructional intervention (Experiment 2), with the latter developed from a similar intervention for stereotype threat. Across four authentic exams in a psychology class, students alternated between completing the intervention and a control task immediately before completing the exams. Neither intervention was effective at reducing test anxiety or improving exam performance. The present results suggest that these interventions may not be successful in addressing the impacts of test anxiety in all classroom settings.

scholarly journals A Comparison of Two In-Class Anxiety Reduction Exercises Before a Final Exam

2018 ◽  
Vol 46 (1) ◽  
pp. 92-95
Author(s):  
Virginia Clinton ◽  
Stacy Meester
Keyword(s):  
Test Anxiety ◽  
Expressive Writing ◽  
Anxiety Reduction ◽  
Exam Performance ◽  
Final Exam ◽  
Breathing Exercise ◽  
Psychology Courses ◽  
Low Levels ◽  
Improved Performance ◽  
Class Anxiety

The purpose of this quasi-experiment is to test two different methods for helping students reduce anxiety before an exam. Students in two introductory psychology courses ( N = 111) engaged in either a focused breathing exercise or an expressive writing exercise before their final exam. Results indicated that, compared with previous exam performance, both focused breathing and expressive writing improved performance for students with high levels of trait test anxiety. However, there was no effect on final exam performance for either method for students with low levels of trait test anxiety. Both the exercises appeared to reduce state anxiety for students, although the reduction was greater for students with high levels of trait test anxiety. These findings can be used to assist students who struggle with trait test anxiety.

scholarly journals Can Test Anxiety Interventions Alleviate a Gender Gap in an Undergraduate STEM Course?

2019 ◽  
Vol 18 (3) ◽  
pp. ar35 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rebecca B. Harris ◽  
Daniel Z. Grunspan ◽  
Michael A. Pelch ◽  
Giselle Fernandes ◽  
Gerardo Ramirez ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Test Anxiety ◽  
Trait Anxiety ◽  
Gender Gap ◽  
Expressive Writing ◽  
Physiological Arousal ◽  
Exam Performance ◽  
Grade Point ◽  
Men And Women ◽  
Exam Scores ◽  
Gender Based

Gender gaps in exam scores or final grades are common in introductory college science and engineering classrooms, with women underperforming relative to men with the same admission test scores or college grade point averages. After failing to close a historically documented gender gap in a large introductory biology course using interventions targeted at training a growth mindset, we implemented interventions designed to reduce student test anxiety. We combined evidence-based exercises based on expressive writing and on reappraising physiological arousal. We also used a valid measure to quantify test anxiety at the start and end of the course. This instrument measures an individual’s self-declared or perceived test anxiety—also called trait anxiety—but not the immediate or “state” anxiety experienced during an actual exam. Consistent with previous reports in the literature, we found that women in this population declared much higher test anxiety than men and that students who declared higher test anxiety had lower exam scores than students who declared lower test anxiety. Although the test anxiety interventions had no impact on the level of self-declared trait anxiety, they did significantly increase student exam performance. The treatment benefits occurred in both men and women. These data suggest that 1) a combination of interventions based on expressive writing and reappraising physiological arousal can be a relatively easy manner to boost exam performance in a large-enrollment science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) course and encourage emotion regulation; 2) women are more willing than men to declare that they are anxious about exams, but men and women may actually experience the same level of anxiety during the exam itself; and 3) women are underperforming in STEM courses for reasons other than gender-based differences in mindset or test anxiety.

Physical and Psychological Benefits of Written Emotional Expression

2015 ◽  
Vol 20 (4) ◽  
pp. 242-251 ◽  
Author(s):  
Éva Kállay
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Expressive Writing ◽  
Mental Health Problems ◽  
Cost Effective ◽  
Health Problems ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Psychological Benefits ◽  
Cost Effective Treatment ◽  
Meta Analyses

Abstract. The last several decades have witnessed a substantial increase in the number of individuals suffering from both diagnosable and subsyndromal mental health problems. Consequently, the development of cost-effective treatment methods, accessible to large populations suffering from different forms of mental health problems, became imperative. A very promising intervention is the method of expressive writing (EW), which may be used in both clinically diagnosable cases and subthreshold symptomatology. This method, in which people express their feelings and thoughts related to stressful situations in writing, has been found to improve participants’ long-term psychological, physiological, behavioral, and social functioning. Based on a thorough analysis and synthesis of the published literature (also including most recent meta-analyses), the present paper presents the expressive writing method, its short- and long-term, intra-and interpersonal effects, different situations and conditions in which it has been proven to be effective, the most important mechanisms implied in the process of recovery, advantages, disadvantages, and possible pitfalls of the method, as well as variants of the original technique and future research directions.

scholarly journals Arterial Stiffness: Its Relation with Prediabetes and Metabolic Syndrome and Possible Pathogenesis

2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (15) ◽  
pp. 3251
Author(s):  
Juan J. Gagliardino ◽  
Martin R. Salazar ◽  
Walter G. Espeche ◽  
Paula E. Tolosa Chapasian ◽  
Daniela Gomez Gomez Garizoain ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Metabolic Syndrome ◽  
Arterial Stiffness ◽  
Negative Impact ◽  
Cost Effective ◽  
Statin Treatment ◽  
Normal Glucose Tolerance ◽  
Complete Picture ◽  
Preventive Strategy ◽  
Metabolic Characteristics ◽  
Healthy Life Style

Aims: To evaluate arterial stiffness indicators in people with prediabetes (PreD) and its possible pathogenesis. Materials and methods: Pulse wave velocity (PWV) was measured in 208 people with FINDRISC ≥ 13 (57 ± 8 years old, 68.7% women) and thereafter divided into those having either normal glucose tolerance (NGT) or PreD. In each subgroup we also identified those with/out insulin resistance (IR) measured by the triglyceride/HDL-c ratio (normal cut off values previously established in our population). Clinical and metabolic data were collected for all participants. PWV was compared between subgroups using independent t test. Results: Women and men had comparable clinical and metabolic characteristics with obesity (BMI ≥ 30) and antihypertensive-statin treatment, almost half with either NGT or PreD. Whereas 48% of NGT people presented IR (abnormally high TG/HDL-c ratio), 52% had PreD. PWV was significantly higher only in those with a complete picture of metabolic syndrome (MS). Conclusions: Since PWV was significantly impaired in people with a complete picture of MS, clinicians must carefully search for early diagnosis of this condition and prescribe a healthy life-style to prevent development/progression of CVD. This proactive attitude would provide a cost-effective preventive strategy to avoid CVD’s negative impact on patients’ quality of life and on health systems due to their higher care costs.

scholarly journals Predicting employee absenteeism for cost effective interventions

2021 ◽  
pp. 113539
Author(s):  
Natalie Lawrance ◽  
George Petrides ◽  
Marie-Anne Guerry
Keyword(s):  
Cost Effective ◽  
Effective Interventions ◽  
Employee Absenteeism

Platelet Inhibitors and Hydroxyethyl Starch: Safe and Cost-Effective Interventions in Coronary Artery Surgery

1985 ◽  
Vol 39 (5) ◽  
pp. 422-425 ◽  
Author(s):  
George L. Hicks ◽  
Lynne A. Jensen ◽  
Lisa H. Norsen ◽  
Jill R. Quinn ◽  
Scott S. Stewart ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Coronary Artery ◽  
Hydroxyethyl Starch ◽  
Cost Effective ◽  
Platelet Inhibitors ◽  
Coronary Artery Surgery ◽  
Effective Interventions

Cultivating Resilience During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Socioecological Perspective

2021 ◽  
Vol 73 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ning Zhang ◽  
Shujuan Yang ◽  
Peng Jia
Keyword(s):  
Cost Effective ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Annual Review ◽  
Publication Date ◽  
Physical And Mental Health ◽  
Pandemic Preparedness ◽  
Predicting Factors ◽  
Effective Interventions ◽  
Interdisciplinary Framework ◽  
The Individual

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic poses wide-ranging impacts on the physical and mental health of people around the world, increasing attention from both researchers and practitioners on the topic of resilience. In this article, we review previous research on resilience from the past several decades, focusing on how to cultivate resilience during emerging situations such as the COVID-19 pandemic at the individual, organizational, community, and national levels from a socioecological perspective. Although previous research has greatly enriched our understanding of the conceptualization, predicting factors, processes, and consequences of resilience from a variety of disciplines and levels, future research is needed to gain a deeper and comprehensive understanding of resilience, including developing an integrative and interdisciplinary framework for cultivating resilience, developing an understanding of resilience from a life span perspective, and developing scalable and cost-effective interventions for enhancing resilience and improving pandemic preparedness. Expected final online publication date for the Annual Review of Psychology, Volume 73 is January 2022. Please see http://www.annualreviews.org/page/journal/pubdates for revised estimates.

Optimising postoperative discharge plans for patients undergoing surgical treatment for gastric cancer: a literature review

2021 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
pp. 34-40
Author(s):  
Lorena Chaparro-Diaz ◽  
Maria Zoraida Rojas ◽  
Sonia Patricia Carreño-Moreno
Keyword(s):  
Gastric Cancer ◽  
Literature Review ◽  
Psychosocial Support ◽  
Negative Impact ◽  
Gastrointestinal Surgery ◽  
Partial Gastrectomy ◽  
Cost Effective ◽  
Essential Elements ◽  
Cochrane Central Register ◽  
Gastric Cancer Patients

Background: Gastric (stomach) cancer is common, difficult to detect and has a high mortality rate. Many gastric cancers are treatable with invasive gastrointestinal surgery, including total or partial gastrectomy. These patients face many postoperative challenges, including pain, nausea and nutritional difficulties, as well as consequent anxiety and socio-economic challenges. Some healthcare institutions have implemented discharge plans as a cost-effective strategy to improve postoperative care. Aim: This systematic literature review aimed to identify essential elements to incorporate in the design and implementation of discharge plans for post-surgical gastric cancer patients. Methods: A systematic literature search was performed on the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Studies, Elsevier Scopus and the library database of the National University of Colombia. These articles were assessed for relevance and underwent thematic analysis. Findings: The search returned nine relevant articles in English and Spanish. They suggested that discharge plans should start from first contact with a nurse and integrate the patient and their family and carers into the process of home self-care and recovery. These plans should also guide nurses to provide ongoing patient education, nutritional interventions and psychosocial support, as well as prevention of thromboembolism and assistance with symptom management and coming to terms with a new life situation. Conclusions: Discharge plans reduce the negative impact of the disease and invasive procedures on patients, families and health systems, reducing unplanned hospitalisation and readmission. There is a need to develop and test supportive care programmes that are designed to meet the needs of patients and focus on improving patients' quality of life after this life-changing surgery.

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