Effectiveness Of Cognitive And Group Behaviour Therapies In Managing Examination Anxiety Among Academically-At-Risk Secondary School Students In Ibadan, Oyo State, Nigeria
Keywords:
academically-at-risk-student, Examination-anxiety, Group-therapy, Cognitive-Behaviour-therapyAbstract
This study investigated the effectiveness of Cognitive and Group Behaviour
Therapies in managing examination anxiety among academically-at-risk
secondary school students in Ibadan, Oyo State, Nigeria. The study adopted an
experimental research design. 180 participants from six secondary schools in
three local government areas in Ibadan. The participants were randomly assigned
to treatment and control groups. The two treatment groups were exposed to ten
weeks training in Cognitive and Group Behaviour Therapies, while participants
in the control group received no training. Two validated instruments: Examination
Anxiety Scale and Student Academic Self-Efficacy Scale were used. Data were
analyzed using Analysis of Covariance and t-test. The findings revealed that there
was a significant main effect of treatment on the ability of academically-at-riskstudents to manage examination anxiety. Also, self-efficacy was found to have a
significant effect on the examination anxiety of academically-at-risk-student
participants. It was concluded that cognitive behaviour and Group therapies were
effective in managing examination anxiety among academically-at-risk-students.
Therefore, it was recommended among others that the school counseling
psychologists can adopt the two interventions therapies to manage examination
anxiety among academically-at-risk-students.
References
Adeyemo, D. A. (2007). Moderating Influence of Emotional Intelligence on the Link between
Academic Self-efficacy and Achievement of University Students: Psychology and
Developing Societies 19(2), 199-213.
Adeyoju, C. A. (1989). The Relative Effectiveness of Cognitive Restructuring and Study Skills
Training on the Adjustment to Academic Failure among Group of Nigerian Students: An
unpublished Ph.D Thesis of the Department of Guidance and Counselling University of
Ibadad, Ibadan Nigeria.
Bandura, A. (1995). Social learning. In A. S. R. Manstead & M. Hewstone.
Beken Jo Ann , Williams John, Combs Julie P. and Slate John R. (2009). At-Risk Students at
Traditional and Academic Alternative School Settings: Differences in Math and English
Performance Indicators: Florida Journal of Educational Administration & Policy Volume
, Issue 1.
Ender, S. C. and Wilkie, C. J. (2000). Advising Students with Special Needs. In V. N. Gordon, W.
R. Habley, & Associates (Eds.), Academic Advising: A comprehensive Handbook (pp. 118-
. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Estrom, T. J. (1996). Self-concept and its implications for counselors. Nigerian Journal of Clinical
and Counselling Psychology, 2(1 & 2), 125-135.
Hembree, R. (1988). Correlates, causes, and treatment of test anxiety. Review of Educational
Research, 58, 47-77. Hodapp, V., Glanzmann, P. G., & Laux.
Hill, K. T., and Wigfield, A. (1984). Test anxiety: A major educational problem and what can be
done about it. Elementary School Journal 85, 105-126.
Hirokawa Kumi, Akihiro Y. and Yo Miyata (2008). An Examination of the Effects of Stress
Management Training for Japanese College Students of Social Work: International Journal
of Stress Management: 9(2), pp. 113-123.
Maehr, M. L. and Midgley, C. (1991). Enhancing Student Motivation: A School wide Approach.
Educational Psychologist 26, pp. 399-427.
Morgan Vicky and Jinks Jerry (1999). Perceived Student Academic Self-Efficacy: An Inventory
Scale. Clearing House 72, no. 4 (April): 224-230.
NECO (2010). Failure in NECO. NECO office Niger State Nigeria.
Pintrich, P. R. and Schrauben, B. (1992). Students' motivational beliefs and their cognitive
engagement in classroom academic tasks. In D. Schunk & J. Meece (Eds.), Student
perceptions in the classroom (pp. 149-183). Hillsdale, New Jersey: Erlbaum.
Sokan, B. O. (1998). Test Anxiety Inventory (TAIN) arranged besides a 4 -Point (Likert) scale
Tobias, S. (1993). Overcoming math anxiety. New York: W. W. Norton & Company.
Wachelka, D., and Katz, R. C. (1999). Reducing test anxiety and improving academic self-esteem
in high school and college students with learning disabilities: Journal of Behavior Therapy
and Experimental Psychiatry, 30(3), pp. 191-198(8).
WAEC (2010). Mass failure in WAEC. Lagos: WAEC
Yalom, D. and Leszcz, F. (2005). The Theory and Practice of Group Psychotherapy, (5th edition),
Basic Books, Preface p. xii. Boston.