Test Anxiety Prevention and Intervention Programs in Schools: Program Development and Rationale

This paper (a) discusses the need for anxiety-focused prevention and intervention efforts, (b) discusses test anxiety interventions as an avenue toward building school partnerships to conduct anxiety-focused prevention and intervention efforts, and (c) provides a brief description of the University of New Orleans test anxiety program model and previously published findings. This paper also presents new data in support of our rationale from one of our screening assessments to highlight the linkages between test anxiety and anxiety problems more broadly and presents a brief summary of initial acceptability data. Data indicate that test anxiety was related to symptoms of anxiety disorders and depression. Moreover, among an initial wave of (n = 59) participants in a new intervention study, acceptability data are promising. For example, 96% indicating they were glad they participated and 70% of students showed substantial knowledge (at least 80% correct) of intervention content. Results are discussed in terms of how the data provide evidence for the importance of targeting test anxiety, future research directions, and applied implications.