EFFECTIVENESS OF MINDFULNESS-BASED COGNITIVE THERAPY ON TEST ANXIETY AND EMOTION REGULATION AMONG SENIOR SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS IN EDO STATE

This paper investigated the effectiveness of mindfulness-based cognitive therapy on test anxiety and emotional regulation among senior secondary school students in Edo State. Two research questions guided the study while two null hypotheses were formulated at 0.05 alpha level. The study adopted a quasi-experimental design specifically the pre-test, post-test control group design. The study participants included 231 male and female SS two students in two selected schools in Oredo Local Government of Edo State. The experimental group school was systematically exposed to Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) over a duration of four weeks. Instrument for data collection was an adopted questionnaire titled Test Anxiety Inventory (TAI) developed by Spielberger (1980) and Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (ERQ) developed by Gross and John (2003). Descriptive statistics such as means, standard deviations were employed to answer the research questions while Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA), was used to test the null hypotheses at 0.05 alpha level. The findings revealed that students in the experimental group demonstrated greater improvements in reducing test anxiety and enhancing emotion regulation compared to those in the control group. The hypotheses were confirmed, showing that MBCT significantly lowered test anxiety and improved emotion regulation. Based on the findings, it was recommended amongst others that secondary schools in Edo State integrate mindfulness-based cognitive therapy into their guidance and counseling services. School counselors and psychologists should be trained in MBCT techniques to help students manage exam-related stress and anxiety effectively