Mindfulness for test anxiety and negative self-evaluation in high school

Abstract

AbstractThere is growing evidence that mindfulness-based interventions reduce test anxiety in university-level students, but less is known about high school students. Adolescence is a time of frequent testing, identity concerns, and increases in self-conscious emotions. We hypothesized that test anxiety would be associated with negative self-referential thinking (negative self-thinking, study 1) and that Mindfulness-based Stress Reduction (MBSR) would reduce test anxiety, negative self-thinking, and self-judgment (study 2). 455 high school students (M age = 17.1 years (SD = 1.07), 43.2% female) reported their test anxiety and negative self-thinking in a cross-sectional study (study 1) and 33 high school students (mean age = 17.5 years (SD = 1.60, 88% female) reported measures at the pre-, post, and one-year follow-up during an 8-week MBSR course (study 2). Test anxiety was positively related to negative self-thinking (study 1). Test anxiety and self-judgment were reduced after participating in MBSR and remained low one year after (study 2). Negative self-thinking was not reduced during the intervention. MBSR seems promising in reducing test anxiety and self-judgment in adolescents and might increase awareness of negative self-thinking, perhaps also reducing the impact of such thoughts by encouraging observation of the thoughts as “events in the mind” rather than facts. Mindfulness training seems promising for reducing test anxiety in high school, but results need to be replicated in larger samples with a control group.