A Comparison of Two In-Class Anxiety Reduction Exercises Before a Final Exam

Abstract

The purpose of this quasi-experiment is to test two different methods for helping students reduce anxiety before an exam. Students in two introductory psychology courses ( N = 111) engaged in either a focused breathing exercise or an expressive writing exercise before their final exam. Results indicated that, compared with previous exam performance, both focused breathing and expressive writing improved performance for students with high levels of trait test anxiety. However, there was no effect on final exam performance for either method for students with low levels of trait test anxiety. Both the exercises appeared to reduce state anxiety for students, although the reduction was greater for students with high levels of trait test anxiety. These findings can be used to assist students who struggle with trait test anxiety.