The Effect of a Psycho-education Program to Reduce Examination Anxiety for Eighth Grade Students

Purpose: The aim of this study is to investigate the effectiveness of the exam anxiety psycho-education program in decreasing the exam anxiety levels of students. Design & Methodology: Experimental design with pre-test and post-test control group was used in the study. The research was conducted on 8th grade students studying in a secondary school in Malatya province center. There are three groups in the study: the experimental group, the control group and the placebo group and there are 15 students in each group. The students in the three groups were selected on a voluntary basis. Examination Anxiety Inventory was applied as data collection tool. The non-parametric Mann Whitney-U test was performed to determine whether the scores of the experimental and control group's pre and post exam anxiety significantly differed. The non-parametric Wilcoxon Signed Ranks Test was used to determine whether the experiment, control, and placebo groups showed significant differences in exam anxiety post-test scores compared to exam anxiety pre-test scores. Findings: According to the research findings, it was concluded that the psycho-education program was effective in reducing the exam anxiety of the students. Implications & Suggestions: According to the results of the research it was found that the psycho-education program was effective in reducing the exam anxiety of students. Psycho-education programs aimed at reducing exam anxiety need to be applied more in middle school students