An Unguided Computerized Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Program for Test Anxiety

Abstract

Test anxiety, a particular manifestation of performance anxiety similar to sports anxiety or the anxiety experienced during public speaking, is characterized by emotional, behavioral, and physiological responses that lead to diminished performance and academic attainment. The primary objective of this paper is to scrutinize the effectiveness of the "No More Test Anxiety" program, an Unguided Computerized Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (cCBT) for Test Anxiety, an intervention not yet implemented in Turkey. The study was conducted in two phases: a pilot study and the main study. The pilot study examined the accessibility and feasibility of the program with 11 participants, while the main study evaluated the efficacy of the program with 34 participants using a pre-test post-test control group design. Participants were assigned to groups via convenience sampling, and the Test Anxiety Inventory (TAI) and the State and Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) were used for analysis. The results demonstrated significant reductions in TAI, STAI-State, and STAI-Trait scores in the treatment group at the end of the intervention (respectively, p < 0.001). Power analysis revealed that the study achieved sufficient power to detect these effects, and effect size calculations highlighted the clinical significance of the findings. The unguided cCBT program for test anxiety was determined to be both feasible and effective, offering insights into the innovative and evolving field of digital psychotherapy