Effectiveness of relaxation therapy in improving the academic performance of test-anxious students

The differences in academic performance among highly test-anxious students with two weeks of either relaxation therapy or study-skills training were investigated. The results (statistically non-significant) indicated that on a less difficult measure of performance both treatment groups scored higher than their population, on a difficult measure both groups scored slightly lower than their population, on a mean of the two measures scored better than their population and that the relaxation therapy group outperformed the study-skills group on all three measures. The findings, though statistically non-significant, are congruent with Dendato & Diener's (1986) research conclusion that an element of relaxation is essential to bring about change in levels of anxiety and subsequently academic performance in test anxious students.