The Effects of Meditation on Test Anxiety Levels Among High School Students

Abstract

Important exams often cause increased test anxiety in high school students, which further negatively affects their learning and academic performance. The practice of mindfulness meditation guides one to focus on the present moment, allowing them to calm their mind and concentrate at the same time. Although several studies have previously been done on meditation, mental health, and test anxiety, there has been no research that specifically examines the effect of meditation on reducing test anxiety for high school students. This study analyzes the effects of meditation on mindfulness and test anxiety among students in two honors (accelerated) Algebra 2 classes (n = 60). Over the course of two weeks leading up to the final exam, all students followed a guided meditation program, requiring them to practice five-minutes of meditation during every class period and every night before they went to sleep. A pre-post survey design was adapted from the Mindfulness Attention and Awareness Scale, Westside Test Anxiety Scale Validation, and the Test Anxiety Inventory for Children and Adolescents. After participating in the meditation program, 75% of all the results comparing the pre-meditation survey to the post-meditation survey depicted significance (p ≤ 0.05). These results reveal that there was a significant improvement in the students’ mindfulness, as well as a significant reduction in test anxiety. Furthermore, those who meditated both in-class and before-bed tended to exhibit better and more significant results than those who only meditated in-class.