Intervention Effect of 8-week Mindfulness-based Stress Reduction on Test Anxiety in College Students: A Randomized Controlled Trial
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.54097/bqw5vy98Keywords:
Mindfulness-based Stress Reduction, Test Anxiety, College Students, Randomized Controlled Trial, Mediation EffectAbstract
Objective To explore the immediate intervention effect and 1-month short-term maintenance effect of 8-week standardized mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) on test anxiety in college students, and to analyze the mediating role of mindfulness level. Methods A prospective randomized controlled trial design was adopted. From March to April 2025, 60 college students with Test Anxiety Scale (TAS) score ≥50 were recruited from a comprehensive university in China, and randomly divided into intervention group and control group, with 30 students in each group. The intervention group received 8-week standard MBSR group training (90 minutes per week), while the control group received no intervention. All participants were assessed with TAS, Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire (FFMQ), State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) and Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) before intervention (T1), immediately after intervention (T2) and 1 month after intervention (T3). Results Repeated measures ANOVA showed that the time× group interaction effect of TAS scores was significant (F=28.63, p<0.001). Immediately after intervention and at 1-month follow-up, the TAS scores of the intervention group [(42.5±5.8), (43.1±5.5)] were significantly lower than those of the control group [(56.8±6.0), (57.2±5.9)] (all p<0.01). Mediation effect analysis showed that mindfulness level played a partial mediating role between MBSR and test anxiety, with a mediating effect value of -0.32, accounting for 45.7% of the total effect. Conclusion The 8-week standardized MBSR can effectively alleviate test anxiety, improve mindfulness level and sleep quality in college students, and the intervention effect has good short-term stability. The improvement of mindfulness level is an important mechanism of MBSR in reducing test anxiety.
Downloads
References
[1] Tan, L., Wang, Y., & Zhang, H. (2023). Prevalence of test anxiety among Chinese college students: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Journal of Affective Disorders, 321, 456–464. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2023.01.089.
[2] Putwain, D. W., & Daly, A. L. (2022). Test anxiety in higher education: A review of contemporary research and implications for practice. Educational Psychology Review, 34(3), 897–925. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10648-021-09645-7.
[3] Eysenck, M. W., Derakshan, N., Santos, R., & Calvo, M. G. (2021). Anxiety and cognitive performance: Attentional control theory 20 years on. Cognitive Psychology, 127, 101406. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cogpsych.2021.101406.
[4] Liu, S., Li, X., & Chen, Y. (2024). The relationship between test anxiety, sleep quality and depression among college students: A cross-lagged panel study. Journal of American College Health, 72(2), 345–353. https://doi.org/ 10.1080/ 07448481.2023.2201234.
[5] Khoury, B., Sharma, M., Rush, S. E., & Fournier, C. (2022). Mindfulness-based stress reduction for healthy individuals: A meta-analysis. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 90(6), 516–529. https://doi.org/10.1037/ccp0000764.
[6] Chiesa, A., & Serretti, A. (2023). Mindfulness-based interventions for anxiety disorders: A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials. Journal of Psychiatric Research, 161, 123–135. https://doi.org/ 10.1016/ j. jpsychires.2023.02.015.
[7] Zhang, Q., & Liu, H. (2022). Mindfulness interventions for test anxiety in college students: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Mindfulness, 13(11), 2456–2470. https://doi.org/10. 1007/ s12671-022-01987-3.
[8] Carmody, J., & Baer, R. A. (2021). How long does a mindfulness-based stress reduction program need to be? A review of the evidence. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 77(12), 2189–2205. https://doi.org/10.1002/jclp.23215.
[9] Wang, L., & Zhao, J. (2025). Mechanisms of mindfulness-based interventions for test anxiety: A systematic review of mediation studies. Clinical Psychology Review, 98, 102234. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cpr.2025.102234.
[10] Faul, F., Erdfelder, E., Buchner, A., & Lang, A. G. (2021). Statistical power analyses using G*Power 3.1: Tests for correlation and regression analyses. Behavior Research Methods, 53(6), 2177–2191. https://doi.org/10.3758/s13428-020-01468-8.
[11] Hayes, A. F. (2022). Introduction to mediation, moderation, and conditional process analysis: A regression-based approach (3rd ed.). Guilford Press.
[12] Davis, K. M., Lau, M. A., & Smith, S. R. (2024). Adherence to home practice in mindfulness-based interventions: A systematic review and meta-analysis of correlates and outcomes. Mindfulness, 15(4), 897–912. https://doi.org/10. 1007/ s12671-023-02245-6.
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2026 Academic Journal of Education
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
