Cognitive Behavioural Group Therapy on Test Anxiety Among Primary School Students

Abstract

In an examination-oriented culture, test anxiety becomes a vital hindrance among students, leading to them developing a false belief concerning their innate capabilities. By implementing cognitive behavioral group therapy, students will develop a positive outlook and reduce test anxiety. The present study was aimed at examining the effectiveness of cognitive behavioral group therapy in alleviating test anxiety among primary school students. The study employed one-group pretest-posttest design. The sample of this study consists of forty (n=40) primary school students. Before cognitive behavioral group therapy, respondents completed the Westside Test Anxiety Scale (Driscoll, 2004). Respondents participated in four sessions of cognitive behavioral group therapy. Afterwards, the Westside Test Anxiety Scale was administered as a post-test. Findings revealed a reduction in test anxiety scores among the respondents who have received cognitive behavioral group therapy. Based on these findings, training of this paradigm should be implemented at primary school level as a preventative initiative to alleviate student test anxiety. The results of the present study are encouraging and should be re-examined with a larger sample size.