Evaluation of the effectiveness of acceptance and commitment-based therapy on academic performance and exam anxiety of female high school students

One of the most basic problems of some students is having anxiety and if this anxiety and worry exceeds its normal level, it will cause disability and weakness in the student's academic performance.

The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of acceptance and commitment therapy based on academic performance and test anxiety of female high school students.

The present study was quasi-experimental and pretest-posttest with a control group. The statistical population included female students in the first year of high school. The statistical sample consisted of 30 students with low academic performance and high test anxiety, who were randomly selected and randomly divided into two groups of experimental (n = 15) and control. (15 people) were included. The instruments used were Sarason (1957) test anxiety questionnaire and Pham Taylor (1999) academic performance questionnaire. After the pretest, the experimental group underwent commitment-based treatment in 8 sessions of 90 minutes, then both groups were retested. The collected data were described by SPSS 28 software using descriptive statistics of mean and data deviation and then the assumptions were analyzed by statistical methods of analysis of covariance and multivariate covariance.

The results showed that acceptance and commitment-based therapy training had an effect on academic performance and test anxiety of female first year students.

Therapists can use this therapeutic approach to improve students' academic performance and test anxiety.