A study to evaluate the effectiveness of guided imagery on examination anxiety among adolescents in selected schools at Asaripallam

Abstract

A study to evaluate the effectiveness of guided imagery on examination anxiety among adolescents in selected schools at Asaripallam with the following objectives:

• To assess the pre-test and post-test levels of examination anxiety among adolescents in experimental group and control group.
• To evaluate the effectiveness of guided imagery on examination anxiety among adolescents.
• To find out association between pre-test level of examination anxiety and selected demographic variables (age, sex, socio-economic status, type of family, medium of instruction in school) of adolescents in experimental and control groups.

Research Approach: A quantitative approach was used for this study. Research Design: True experimental pre-test–post-test control group design was adapted. Sample: Adolescents who are studying in 10th standard with examination anxiety and those who fulfil the inclusion criteria in selected schools at Asaripallam. Sample Size: Total sample size was 60, among whom, 30 in experimental group received guided imagery, and 30 in control group received no intervention. Sampling Technique: Randomly the schools were assigned to the experimental and control groups by lottery method.

The following results were drawn from the present study:

• Most of the adolescents in the experimental and control groups suffered from examination anxiety.
• Guided imagery was effective in reducing the level of examination anxiety among adolescents.
• The mean post-test level of examination anxiety (22.5) was lesser than the mean pre-test level of examination anxiety (33.8) in the experimental group. The obtained t-value (9.02) was statistically highly significant at 0.05 level. This illustrates the mean difference of 11.3, which was a true difference and has not occurred by chance. This may be due to the effect of guided imagery.
• The mean post-test level of examination anxiety in experimental group (22.5) was lesser than the mean post-test level of examination anxiety in control group (33.5). The obtained t-value (9.16) was statistically highly significant at 0.05 level. This illustrates the mean difference of 9, which was a true difference and has not occurred by chance.