The Effectiveness of Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy on Self-Control and Academic Performance of Students with High/Low Level of Test Anxiety

As students form the cornerstone of educational systems, features and variables related to their mental health should be considered carefully. Research has shown that self-control and academic performance are important factors related to the level of anxiety in students. This study aimed to investigate the effectiveness of cognitive therapy based on mindfulness on self-control and academic performance of students with the moderating role of test anxiety.   

This research was a quasi-experimental study with pretest-posttest design, which had two control groups and two experimental groups. The study population included all the grade 6 female students in Sari in 2017. A sample of 40 students was selected by multi-stage cluster sampling and then was randomly divided into 20 students in experimental groups (10 students in high level of test anxiety, 10 students in low level of test anxiety), and 20 students in control group (10 students in high level of test anxiety, and 10 students in low level of test anxiety). The study tools included Self-control Scale (Tangney, 2004), Academic Performance Questionnaire (Pham & Taylor, 1999), and Test Anxiety Inventory (Spielberger, 2010). The experimental groups received eight 45-min sessions of mindfulness training, while the control groups underwent no intervention. Data were analyzed by multivariate ANCOVA.      

Findings of the research showed that cognitive therapy based on mindfulness was effective on the self-control of students with high level of test anxiety (F=41.07, P<0.001), but it had no effect on the self-control of students with low level of test anxiety (F=0.06, P>0.80). Also, this intervention was effective on the academic performance of students with high level of test anxiety (P<0.001, F=28.64), but it had no effect on the academic performance of students with low level of test anxiety (F=0.3, P>0.68).

Based on the results of this study, it can be concluded that test anxiety has a moderating role in the effectiveness of mindfulness training on self-control and academic performance of students. Therefore, test anxiety must be emphasized as a factor influencing the effectiveness of mindfulness training on the self-control and academic performance of students.