The impact of group coaching on the self-efficacy, test anxiety and perceived stress in male adolescents

One-to-one coaching interventions have had a demonstrably positive impact on the psychological wellbeing of young people but are beyond the resources of many schools. By contrast, group coaching has received little investigation and may be more feasible and offer similar benefits. This study sought to examine the effectiveness of group coaching to decrease test anxiety and perceived stress and increase self-efficacy amongst male students attending an English secondary school. In a quasi-experimental between-participant design, 32 male students between 16 and 18 years of age were allocated to a group coaching programme (n=16) or a wait-list control group (n=16) based on existing class membership. The six-week group coaching programme was structured around the GROW coaching model and was facilitated by a teacher-researcher trained in coaching psychology techniques. ANCOVA analyses indicate that group coaching had no statistically significant effect on self-efficacy or perceived stress, despite improved post-intervention mean scale scores for both measures. The coaching group experienced a significant increase in test anxiety whereas the control group demonstrated improved post-intervention scores against this measure. Findings did not attest to a significantly positive impact for group coaching. Further research is recommended to determine the potentially detrimental effects of group coaching against certain measures and which wellbeing measures may be enhanced in adolescents as effectively as using traditional one-to-one coaching.