An exploratory study of test anxiety management workshop based on the Unified Protocol

Abstract

Introduction: Test anxiety is a multidimensional construct, defined as a set of phenomenological, physiological and behavioral responses associated with cognitive processes linked to excessive concern about possible negative consequences in an evaluative situation. In university students, it presents occurrence rates between 10 % and 40 %. Therefore, the main objective of the present study is to evaluate the usefulness of a group and online workshop for managing this problem based on the Unified Protocol.

Methods: A total of 31 Argentinian students aged 18 to 35 years (M=25; SD=5.24) participated in the study, from which 93.5 % were women. They were evaluated with pre, post and follow-up measures in symptomatology associated with test anxiety (GTAI-AR), emotional regulation strategies (ERQ) and mindfulness (MAAS). The Wilcoxon test corroborated intragroup differences, and Hedge's g was calculated to measure effect size (ES).

Results: Regarding the primary variable, the differences were significant with moderate & large ES, which were maintained between the three measures applied. Respecting the secondary variables, in the pre-post measures, only cognitive reappraisal reflected significant ES (small).; in the post-follow-up, expressive suppression was the only dimension that showed meaningful ES (moderate), and in the pre-follow-up, it was found that only mindfulness showed considerable ES (small).

Discussion: The results are consistent with the Unified Protocol framework and current research on its application.

Conclusions: These results are expected to be helpful for the design of similar interventions. Although the results were encouraging, more rigorous research is needed to study their efficacy.