Group therapy on accepting feelings helped boys who fear tests put things off less
Who it’s about: Children, Students
- Helped
After eight weekly group sessions on feelings and values, boys put off schoolwork less than boys who got nothing.
- Action: Notice the unpleasant feeling and start anywaytested
- Action: Clarify what matters to youtested
- Rule: Practise with a groupused
- Rule: With a coach or therapistused
- Rule: In weekly sessionsused
Small randomised trial of 30 Iranian seventh-grade boys with high test anxiety · vs boys who got nothing · they rated themselves · ⚠ numbers unreliable; summary claims more than the results show
The study
Who took part
30 seventh-grade boys in Kerman, Iran, chosen because they felt very anxious about tests. 15 got the therapy and 15 got nothing.
What they did
One group had eight weekly 90-minute group sessions over two months with a clinical psychologist. They learned to accept hard feelings instead of fighting them, and to notice their thoughts without getting caught up in them. They also chose what matters to them and practised acting on it. The other group got nothing during those two months.
What happened
At the end, the therapy group rated themselves as putting off schoolwork less than the boys who got nothing. They also said they had fewer problems with how they behaved and got along. The paper's numbers don't fully agree, and its summary claims a stronger result than its tables. Nobody checked on the boys after the sessions ended.
Source
Effectiveness of Commitment and Acceptance Therapy on Academic Procrastination and Behavioral Maladaptation of Male Students with Test Anxiety: A Quasi-Experimental Study (2022)
DOI: 10.52547/jrums.21.1.3 (opens in a new tab)Tools in this study
Action2
Notice the unpleasant feeling and start anywayEmotion regulation: name, accept or tolerate the feeling a task brings, then begin.
