Brief Mindfulness Meditation Based Stress Reduction Programme in Controlling Examination Anxiety of Secondary School Students

Abstract

The relationship between anxiety and impaired academic performance has been well documented by a number of investigators (Tyron, 1980; Hill & Wigfield, 1984; Topp, 1989; Sud & Sharma, 1990; Zeidner, 1990; Zoller & Ben-chain, 1990). Everyone should feel somewhat anxious before they begin to take a test. Anxiety becomes a problem when it begins to interfere with a student’s ability to think logically or remember facts. Examination anxiety (test-anxiety) is a common and frequently debilitating condition characterized by intense fear of evaluation in performance situations (Jefferys, 1997). It has an early onset (Otto et al., 2001) and regularly precedes other anxiety, mood, and substance dependence disorders (Lampe et al.,. 2003). Examination anxiety is associated with significant distress and functional impairment in both work and social domains (Lochner et al., 2003) and typically persists unless treated (Clark & Wells, 1995). The early onset of test-anxiety .magnifies its impact, including increased school dropout (Van Ameringen et al., 2003), poor social integration, and increased comorbid psychopathology (Lampe et al., 2003).