Comparison of the Effectiveness of Mindfulness-based on Techniques and Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy on Test Anxiety Symptoms in Female Students

Test anxiety is one of the common phenomena that have a negative impact on students' academic performance. In recent years, various therapies have been used to treat it. The purpose of this study was conducted to compare the effectiveness of mindfulness-based techniques and cognitive-behavioral therapy on test anxiety symptoms in female students. The research method was quasi-experimental with a multi-group pre-test and post-test design. The statistical population of the study consisted of all tenth-grade female students in Azna City in the academic year 2020-2021. Among them, a sample of 45 students was selected by targeted sampling with Spielberger test anxiety inventory and randomly assigned into the experimental or control groups (15 students per group). One of the experimental groups was trained in mindfulness and the other experimental group was taught cognitive-behavioral therapy in 10 sessions, while the control group received no intervention. Data were collected using the Spielberger (1980) test anxiety questionnaire. Data were analyzed by one-way ANCOVA and multivariate ANCOVA and Bonferroni post hoc test. The results showed that mindfulness and cognitive-behavioral therapy had a significant effect on reducing test anxiety and its components in female students (P<0.001). Furthermore, based on the results of the post hoc test, the effect of mindfulness on test anxiety and worry components (P<0.001); there was no significant difference between the two methods on the emotion component (P>0.05). Based on the findings, it can be stated that both interventions are effective in reducing the symptoms of test anxiety in female students and mindfulness can be a good alternative to cognitive-behavioral therapy in the treatment of test anxiety.