Date of Award

Spring 8-1-1988

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department

Communication Disorders and Counseling, School, and Educational Psychology

First Advisor

Reece Chaney

Second Advisor

J. Laurence Passmore

Third Advisor

Walter Sullins

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to test the effectiveness of a stress inoculation training package based on recommendations provided in the Meichenbaum and Butler feedback loop model of test anxiety. The variables under investigation included the Test Anxiety Scale, the Study Habits scale of the Survey of Study Habits and Attitudes, and academic test scores (converted to standard scores). These measures were administered pre- and posttreatment. The sample consisted of 54 introductory psychology students who were self-identified as test-anxious. Through a randomization process, 26 students were assigned to the stress inoculation training group and 28 students were assigned to the wait-list control group. Within the structure provided by stress inoculation training, the treatment group was exposed to a multicomponent package which consisted of cognitive restructuring, selfinstructional training, relaxation training, study skills training, and test-taking skills training. At the end of the treatment, eight sessions over a four-week period., each variable was subjected to a 2 (treatment, control) x 2 (pretest, posttest) repeated measures analysis of variance. The interaction of group by time of measurement was significant (p < .05) for the test anxiety and study skills measures. iv The results of a series of simple main effects of time tests indicated that the gains for the treatment group were significant on all three variables: test anxiety, study skills, and academic test performance. The pretest to posttest differences for the wait-list control group were nonsignificant. Simple main effects of group tests indicated no significant differences between the treatment and control groups at the pretest. There were significant differences between the groups at posttest on the study skills and test anxiety measures, but not on the academic performance measure. The results of this study confirm previous evidence which suggests that multicomponent treatments are effective in treating test anxiety. The results of this study offer general support for the multicomponent treatment package indicated by the feedback loop model.

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