The effectiveness of dialectical behavioral therapy on increasing academic self-esteem and reducing test anxiety among students

The purpose of the present study was to investigate the effectiveness of dialectical behavioral therapy on increasing academic self-esteem and decreasing the test anxiety among female school students in Tabriz. Test anxiety threatens students' mental health and impacts their efficiency, flourishing, personality development and social identity. Using one-step randomized cluster sampling, one of the schools was selected and Cooper self-esteem questionnaire and Smith's test anxiety scale were performed and 24 students were randomly selected who had the highest score in the anxiety test and the lowest score in self-esteem questionnaire. Eleven students were put in the experimental group and ten others in the control group. The experimental group was subjected to dialectical behavioral therapy for eight sessions. The data were analyzed using covariance and multivariate covariance. The results showed that group behavior therapy was effective in increasing academic self-esteem but in reducing the test anxiety and its components did not have a significant effect on students. The result of group therapy including dialectical behavioral therapy can increase self-esteem and reduce test anxiety.