Anxiety Reduction and Improved Concentration in Schoolchildren through Wingwave® Coaching

(1) Background: For nearly 20 years, the wingwave® method, which combines elements of eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) and a muscular strength test, has been used to reduce anxiety and improve relaxation in subjects. Past studies have scientifically evaluated this method in various contexts and have found it to be effective. In this study, we investigated the effects of short-term wingwave® coaching on specific anxiety parameters regarding school, concentration ability, and subjective feelings towards two self-chosen themes in schoolchildren. (2) Methods: A group of 53 schoolchildren aged 11 to 12 years were randomly divided between an experimental and a control group. The experimental group received an intervention of three wingwave® coaching sessions (one hour each). In these sessions, past and present negative feelings towards school as well as psychological resources to face future tasks in school were focused on and utilized. (3) Results: The results showed that the overall text anxiety, manifested anxiety, and dislike of school decreased significantly in the experimental group after the three coaching sessions compared to the control group. Furthermore, both concentration ability and the subjective feeling towards self-chosen subjects improved significantly in the experimental group compared to the control group. (4) Conclusions: Our results indicate that the wingwave® method is an appropriate and effective instrument to reduce school anxiety and to improve concentration performance in schoolchildren—at least in the short and medium term.

A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF THE EFFECT OF COMPUTER BASED EXAMINATION ON TEXT ANXIETY

The use of computer-based tests for testing is currently trending in Nigerias educational setting. Research has linked the phenomenon to increased test anxiety among students. The present study aimed to compare the difference between students in public and private tertiary institutions on CBT-induced test anxiety. Two hundred students pooled from public and private tertiary institutions participated in the study. Data for the research was collected using a self-report measure. The findings affirmed the prevalence of test anxiety occasioned by CBT. The t-test analysis conducted on the data revealed no statistically significant difference between public and private CBT-induced test anxiety. The findings and recommendations are discussed.

Test Anxiety in Autistic University Students—Preliminary Results from a German-Speaking Sample

Autism is a neurodevelopmental condition associated with increased levels of anxiety. However, whether autism is related to heightened test anxiety as one situation-specific type of anxiety has not yet been examined. This question may be relevant for the achievement and well-being of autistic people in educational settings (e.g., at universities). In this study, we took a first step to investigate whether autistic university students have increased test anxiety. A sample of 16 German-speaking university students completed an established diagnostic instrument to measure test anxiety and its components of worry, emotionality, cognitive interference, and lack of confidence. The scores of the autistic students were compared with the test anxiety means and percentile ranks of the standardization sample for the applied test anxiety measure (n = 1350). For an additional comparison, the test anxiety means and percentile ranks of non-autistic university students (n = 101) were assessed during the last third of the semester; that is, close to the examinations. Overall, the results suggest that autistic university students have remarkably increased test anxiety. Although the present findings must be considered preliminary, they suggest that text anxiety in educational settings may be a neglected significant problem for autistic people that requires further attention in research and practice.

Feedback Analysis of Test Anxiety and Academic Performance Among Students

Previous research has shown that test anxiety among students affects academic performance. Understanding the feedback mechanisms underlying the dynamics of test anxiety and academic performance among students will inform the development of interventions to cut the prevalence of text anxiety. Many theories have been proposed to explain the underlying causes of text anxiety and academic performance. In this research, the authors sought to synthesize the dominate theories of test anxiety and academic performance (i.e., cognitive attention model, learning deficit model, dual deficit model, and social learning model) and translate it into an explicit system dynamic simulation model that captures the main feedback loops. Simulation experiments were implement using synthetic data and variation of few parameters in the experiments produced realistic trajectories of students' academic performance.

The Text Anxiety in Relation to Academic Achievement of Kasturiba Gandhi Balika Vidyalaya (KGBV) Students – A Study

Test anxiety is a typical experience in classrooms, changing the performance of students from school for college, as a whole being adults who must take job-related exams. Test anxiety can also move termed as anticipatory anxiety, examination anxiety that occurs in a situation like facing the exam. Indeed, there is a stirred upstate in physiological level causing over-arousal, tension and somatic symptoms and psychological level causing poor attention, deterioration in perception and thought fluency this can lead to worry, dread, fear of failure, and catastrophic experiences before or during test situations among the students. In this context, the research attempted to study the present problem, i.e., Text Anxiety about Academic Achievement of Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalaya(KGBV) students. For the study, the researcher identified 100 students studying (8th and 9th standard) in KGBV schools of Kuppam and Gudipalle Mondal of Chittor district of Andhra Pradesh.

The "What" and "Hows" of Mindfulness: Using DBT's Mindfulness Skills to Reduce Test Anxiety

Background: Many studies have shown the positive effects of extended mindfulness interventions on anxiety reduction in several different populations; however, few have yet to examine the effects of mindfulness interventions on test anxiety in a college student population.Aim: This study assesses the effects of overall test anxiety reduction through the use of Dialectical Behavior Therapy's (DBT's) mindfulness skills over an eight-week period among college students.Methods: Participants included 16 college students that were trained in mindfulness, which included an eight-week mindfulness training using DBT's "What" and "How" skills of the mindfulness module. Participants were assessed on text anxiety, general anxiety, and mindfulness at the beginning, mid-way point, and end of the study. A weekly schedule of mindfulness practices was given to participants to complete on their own at home.Results: Participants showed significant within-group reductions in test anxiety from the start of the study (Mean = 56, SD = 11.47) to the end of the study (Mean = 37.56, SD = 9.98).Conclusions: It is likely a mindfulness intervention that specifically teaches the “What” and “How” skills of DBT can help students reduce not only test anxiety, but overall anxiety, as well as increase individual levels of mindfulness based on the self-reported mindfulness questionnaire. Further research is needed to more definitively assess these results matched against a wait-list control group.

Mediating Test Anxiety through the Testing Effect in Asynchronous, Objective, Online Assessments at the University Level

Do asynchronous online evaluations, designed and delivered to engage the testing effect, moderate test anxiety? To answer this question, we surveyed 353 undergraduate and graduate students, drawn from 12 courses, hybrid and online, asking whether the option to take and retake a quiz lessened their text anxiety. Students, no matter the course or level, indicate yes, with more than 90% of the sample agreeing that the option to retake a quiz reduced test anxiety. We also consider this result with regards to the issues of metacognitive accuracy, student engagement, and learning effectiveness. Nearly 95% saw the “anytime, anyplace” test-retest option increasing understanding, improving class engagement, and supporting a more effective learning experience. Our findings profile a promising path to reset traditional as well as refine online evaluation pedagogies.

Measuring Graph Literacy

Graphical displays generally facilitate the communication of complex information and are ubiquitous in media. Unfortunately, people differ in their ability to extract data and meaning from graphical representations of quantitative information (i.e., graph literacy). This means that for some people, even well-designed, simple graphs will cause confusion and misunderstanding. Research on the psychology of graph comprehension focuses on two instruments that efficiently assess fundamental graph literacy among diverse adults. The Objective Graph literacy scale is a well-established instrument with good psychometric properties that measures skill via cognitive performance testing (e.g., interpreting and evaluating various graphs). The recently developed Subjective Graph Literacy scale is a brief self-report of graph literacy that can outperform the objective test in notable ways, while reducing text anxiety. Emerging applications in clinical research and practice, including computerized decision aids, can personalize content as a function of one’s graph literacy.

Academic Stress and Drug Abuse as Factors Inhibiting Psychological Well-Being Among Undergraduates: It’s Counselling Implications

The study examined Academic Stress and drug abuse as factors inhibiting psychological well-being among undergraduate students and its counselling implications. Three faculties in IBB University were purposively selected for the study and 90 students were randomly selected in the three faculties for the study. Three instruments (PPPWQ, ASRS. and DAST.) that were validated by experts and with confirmed reliabilities were used for the study. Each instrument was administered on the respondents and retrieved by the researcher with the efforts of 3 research assistants.Simple percentage, Rank order and chi-square were used for bio-data and the analysis of data respectively. The findings revealed that, lack of time management, text anxiety, uncoverage of course contents and difficult in course component are the causes of academic stress among students. The intake of drugs makes the students feel lonely, sexual urge, Bullying, poor Odour, among others, Sweating, accelerated heart rate, trembling, maladjustment, fear of failure, among others are the nasty effects of academic stress and drug abuse on their personalities as such, inhibiting their psychological well-being. It was vividly seen that academic stress and drug abuse are significant factors that inhibit psychological well-being of students. Based on the findings, the counsellor could use systematic desensitization technique to discourage drug use among students and seminars, advocacy programmes, among others, are recommended to help the students.

Identifying Severity Standards on the Cognitive Test Anxiety Scale: Cut Score Determination Using Latent Class and Cluster Analysis

The purpose of the current examination was to preliminarily suggest severity standards for the recently revised Cognitive Test Anxiety Scale–Second Edition (CTAS-2). Participants responded to the CTAS-2, Motivated Strategies for Learning Questionnaire (MSLQ), and FRIEDBEN Test Anxiety Scale. Using both latent class and cluster analyses, we were able to classify participants as belonging to one of the three distinct cognitive test anxiety profiles—low, moderate, and high. Comparison of the identified test anxiety profiles allowed us to generate a set of severity standards for the CTAS-2 that can be used to differentiate between individuals with differing levels of cognitive test anxiety. The validity of the severity standards was established through group comparisons of test-anxious students on the MSLQ–Text Anxiety, FRIEDBEN–Cognitive Obstruction, FRIEDBEN–Social Derogation, and FRIEDBEN–Physiological Tenseness scales. Discussion concerns the practical implications of establishing CTAS-2 severity standards for educators, student support staff, and learners.