Test Assessment and Management Using Relaxation and Cognitive Restructuring Techniques: An Approach towards Anxiety, Depression and Academic Performance

This study highlights about assessing test anxiety, depression and academic performance and managing them using Relaxation and Cognitive Restructuring Techniques. Examination as a word evokes varying degrees of anxiety in students depending on the importance of the examination, perceived difficulty level of the subject, and degree of preparedness for the examination. A perceived difficult subject would elicit higher anxiety levels, and test anxiety as a psychological condition can adversely affect people in every field of life,and especially it adversely affects students who face different examinations. Psychological interventions like cognitive therapy are expected to lessen students' anxieties and any other psychological distress, thereby improving their academic performance. It is suspected that test anxiety may coexist with other forms of psychological distress, such as depression. In an attempt to verify our suspicion and confirm the expectation, 420 senior secondary school students made up of 210 males and 210 females aged between 13 and 19 years responded to test anxiety, trait anxiety, and depressive symptoms inventories. 72 of the students whose test anxiety scores were higher than the group’s average score, were divided into three groups and treated under three conditions of “no treatment”, “relaxation treatment alone”, and combined “relaxation and cognitive restructuring treatment”. Results obtained show that test anxiety, trait anxiety, and de- pression co-exist and are positively related, and they are negatively related to academic performance. Concerning test anxiety, a positive relationship exists between trait and test anxiety in such a way that as test anxiety increased, trait anxiety also increased. Students who suffer from test anxiety also reported suffering from depression thereby confirming depression as acorrelate of test anxiety. In addition, the combination of relaxation and cognitive restructuring treatment reduced anxiety and depression better than relaxation treatment alone or no treatment and improved test performance of the students much more than any of the other two conditions. The results thus support the usefulness of cognitive therapy in treating anxiety and depression and enhancing academic achievement; the combination of cognitive therapy and relaxation techniques maximizes academic performance.