The effectiveness of stress inoculation training on exam anxiety, distress tolerance, self-compassion, and academic self-efficacy in exam-anxious students

Exam anxiety is a prevalent issue among high school students, negatively impacting their academic performance and psychological well-being. This was a quasi-experimental study with a pre-test-post-test design and a follow-up with a control group. The sample consisted of 48 female high school students with exam anxiety who were selected using convenience sampling and randomly assigned to either the intervention group ( n = 24) or the control group ( n = 24). The research instruments were the Test Anxiety Scale, the Distress Tolerance Scale, the Self-Compassion Questionnaire, and the Academic Self-Efficacy Questionnaire. The intervention group received SIT in eleven 90-min sessions, twice a week. The control group was placed on a waitlist. The results showed that Exam anxiety scores were significantly lower in the SIT group compared to the control group ( p < .001). Additionally, SIT significantly increased distress tolerance, self-compassion, and academic self-efficacy ( p < .001) in the intervention group compared to the control group. This study’s findings supported the effectiveness of SIT in reducing exam anxiety and enhancing positive psychological constructs in exam-anxious high school students. These results suggest that SIT may be a valuable tool for promoting students’ emotional well-being and academic success.