systematic desensitization therapy as panacea for … · anxiety, it has shown to have various...

SYSTEMATIC DESENSITIZATION THERAPY AS PANACEAFOR THE REDUCTION OF TEST ANXIETY AMONG

UNIVERSITY UNDERGRADUATES Nwani Benjamin Eze ([email protected])

& UDECHUKWU D.C ([email protected])

DEPARTMENT OF PSYCHOLOGYFACULTY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES

EBONYI STATE UNIVERSITYABAKALIKI

Abstract

The present study focused on the effect of systematicdesensitization therapy (SDT) on the reduction of test anxietyon some identified test anxious undergraduates. A total of onehundred and twenty five (125) males and femalesundergraduates from psychology department in Ebonyi StateUniversity, Abakaliki participated in the study. They comprised78 anxious and 48 non-anxious with the age range of 20-32years, and a mean age of 25.60 years. Test anxiety inventory(TAI) developed by Spielberger (1980) was used to identifystudents who were test anxious. The study is a 2 x 2 factorialdesign and a two-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) was usedfor hypothesis testing. The result indicates that STD iseffective in the test anxiety of students who were testedanxious, f(1,74) = 9.261, p<0.05). The result also showed thatentry test anxiety level of subjects were statistically significanton the level of reduction of test anxiety undergraduate, f(1,74)= 27.458, p<0.05. The result showed that sex had nosignificant effect on the reduction of test anxietyundergraduates f(1,74) = 7.570, p<0.05. There was alsosignificant interaction effect on entry test anxiety level andtherapy at the end of each treatment, f(1,74) = 4.513, p<0.05.Since SDT had shown to be effective in the reduction of testanxiety among undergraduates in a Nigerian Universitysamples, it is recommended that this therapy be used in thetreatment of test anxiety. It is also recommended that beforethe treatment of test anxiety, the entry test anxiety level ofparticipants must be considered so as to form a base for thetherapy.Keywords: Systematic Desensitization Therapy, Test Anxiety,Undergraduate, Gender.

1

mailto:[email protected]


Introduction

In the most recent past, stakeholders which include; parents,

teachers, students, government, media etc. have become

increasingly worried about the falling standard of education in

Nigeria, especially at the tertiary level. The media have equally

raised alarm on the incidence of examination malpractices as

well as other ills plaguing the nation’s universities. To this end,

Seminars, Workshop and Conferences have been organized to

proffer solutions to the problem.

While many people tend to focus attention on the

educational system itself, others blame it on the lecturers and

the teaching methods they adopt, and yet some others still

blame it on the inability of the students to read and

comprehend what have been taught (Adedipe 1984; Okoye

1986 and Amaeze, 1992). In addition, there could be the

problem of emotional maladjustment which seem to be

plaguing the Nigerian university graduates due to societal

expectations.

Everyone experiences anxiety, most people feel anxious in

specific situations such as before an examination, appearing for

interview or even delivering a speech. Olusade (2003) defines

anxiety as a chronic fear that occurs when a threatening event

is in the offing but is unpredictable.

Similarly, Rollo May (1977) defined anxiety from an

existential point of view as an apprehension cued off by a

threat to values that an individual hold essential to his/her

existence as a personality. From psychoanalytic perspective,

Goldenson (1970) defined anxiety as a diffused feeling of

dread, apprehension of an impending catastrophy experienced2

when one is threatened by an unknown danger from within or

by unconscious conflict.

Still, Kemmel (1975) defined anxiety from behavioural

perspective as a conditioned form of reaction which has a

highly useful function of motivating and reinforcing behaviour

that tends to avoid or prevent the reoccurrence of pain

production. However, Borkovec (1977) summarized these

definitions by defining anxiety as a complex and variable

pattern of behaviour characterized by subjective apprehension

and tension accompanied or associated with physiological

activation which occurs in response to various stimuli of both

external and internal sources. From Borkovec’s summary of

anxiety, it has shown to have various types which include

phobic, post traumatic, panic, generalized, obsessive

compulsion anxieties etc. The focus of this study is to test

anxiety which falls within the category of phobic anxiety. Phobic

anxiety is an intense irrational and unrealistic emotion

characterized by the avoidance of an object or situation

recognized by an individual to be harmful (Omoluabi P. 1995).

When approaching the phobic object or situation, the

individual’s response of discomfort results in inhibited motor

reaction, apprehension and feeling of imminent catastrophy.

When in contact with the phobic object or situation, the

individual trembles, perspires profusely and elicit the

characteristics of generalized anxiety which include; trembling,

jitteriness, easily fatigued, inability to relax, shallow

respiration, autonomic hyperactivity characterized by increased

heart beat, profused sweating especially in the arm pit and

palm, dizziness, frequent urination, feeling of butterfly in the3

stomach. It is also characterized by hyperarousal which

manifest as ageyness, being easily startled, inability to

concentrate and general irritability. Apart from these general

characteristics, it has been found that individuals with high

level of anxiety also manifest mild depression.

Test anxiety therefore is a combination of perceived

physiological over arousal, feeling of worry and dread, self

depreciating thoughts, tension and somatic symptoms that

occur during test situations (Omoluabi P. 1995). It is a

physiological condition in which people experience extreme

stress, anxiety and discomfort during and/or before taking a

test. These responses can drastically hinder an individual’s

ability to perform well and negatively affects their social,

emotional and behavioural development and feelings about

themselves and school. Test anxiety is prevalent among

student populations of the world. Test anxiety can also be

labeled as anticipatory anxiety, situational anxiety or evaluation

anxiety. Test anxiety have shown a consistently negative

relationship with test performance. Again the test anxious

students are found to perform worse than non anxious students

(Culler, Ralph. E; Holaham, Charles.J. 1980). The inferior

performance may not arise from intellectual deficits, but

because testing situations are threatening to a test anxious

person’s sense of self.

In the present study, the efficacy of systematic

desensitization for the treatment of anxiety is investigated.

Systematic desensitization was developed by Joseph Wolpe in

1958 to help people who have maladaptive anxiety. The

process of systematic desensitization was based on the4

principle of counter-conditioning which implies the use of

learning procedure to substitute one type of response for

another. Wolpe, in developing systematic desensitization,

therefore hoped to substitute relaxation for anxiety. The

process involves the pairing of relaxation with the imagined

scene that creates anxious situation for the client.

Since this study examined the effect of systematic

desensitization therapy on the reduction of test anxiety in

university undergraduates, it is important that the issue of sex

in considered along side so as to ascertain if treatment affect

observed is as a result of gender interference. The

establishment of baseline before treatment is of paramount

importance in behaviour modification (Akimboye, 1992).

This gives the direction to the study and helps the

researchers in ascertaining if treatment is effective or not. The

entry test anxiety level of subjects must, therefore, be

considered. This will help in the establishment of baseline for

this study, and also show if it has any effect on the treatment

and final test anxiety level of the subjects.

However, it is yet to be established whether the changes

observed from treatment with the aforementioned therapy are

due to other underlying factors such as entry test anxiety level,

or sex that can reduce test anxiety among students. Thus, it is

important that the interaction of factors such as entry test

anxiety level and sex with treatment be explored empirically.

Theoretical review

Many theories have been used in recent times by scholars

to help understand the underlying factors that cause anxiety.

Anxiety is an emotional problem, which if not attended to,5

could be carried over to examination situation, and researches

have shown that this could result in neurotic disorders (Adeola,

1987). Anxiety, in most cases may result to frustration and this

is capable of affecting the totality of the individual as well as

his/her personality.

The concept of test anxiety as one of the

psychopathologies has been of great interest to many

psychologists such as Ralph. E, Culler, Holahan, Charles. J

(1980) and Omoluabi. P. (1995). Their findings have shown

that test anxiety has influenced behaviour in one way or the

other. In its pure form, test anxiety usually appears as a vague

sort of uneasiness, a feeling of panic, discomfort and

helplessness or an awareness of tension as a result of an

impending test situation.

Universal conceptualization of anxiety regards it as a

generalized feeling of fear and apprehension that might be

related to a particular event of object accompanied by

increased physiological arousal (Coodkin, 1998). Freud (1965)

saw anxiety as the result of constant conflict among the id, ego

and super ego, and he referred to all forms of behaviour

associated with anxiety to anxiety neurosis.

Olusade (2003) sees anxiety as a chronic fear that occurs

when a threatening event is in the offing but unpredictable.

Furthermore, anxiety is more future oriented and global,

referring to the state in which an individual is inordinately

apprehensive, tensed and uneasy about the prospect of

something terrible happening. It can be an unpleasant

emotional state of worry, apprehension and tension. (Brandy,

2008). 6

Although anxiety can be a positive motivating force; its

effect can be quite debilitating. If anxiety is left unchecked or

treated, it may eventually impair a person’s health and lead to

hospitalization. Anxiety, in most cases result to frustration and

this is capable of affecting the totality of the individual as well

as his or personality.

Events following an individual’s life taking a test or

examination can be maladaptive if such an individual

continually exhibit an anxious behaviour each time he or she is

faced with a test or examination. This is the situation referred

to as test anxiety.

On the other hand, a test can be seen as a series of

questions, problems or practical task to find out somebody’s

knowledge, ability or experience (Encarta, 2007). In clinical

practice, test are used to get a sense of a client’s intellectual

strength and weaknesses, particularly when mental retardation

or brain damage is suspected (Gregory, 1999).

Intelligent test are also used in school setting to identify

children with intellectual difficulties and to place children gifted

in the classroom. They are used in occupational settings and

the military to evaluate adult’s capabilities for certain job or

types of service (Hoeksema, 2004). In educational setting, it is

the examination designed to objectively measure the academic

aptitude of the students from certain social background and

with different educational experience (Makinde, 1994).

In conducting this test, individual reaction towards it may

generate a feeling that could elicit anxiety, hence test anxiety.

Because of the failure caused by test anxiety in our educational

system, it has come to the minds of researchers to identity its7

source and create a way of averting it among our university

undergraduates and the school system in general.

According to Jennet (1999) test anxiety is the thought,

fear and emotional association with test events that we

experience under normal conditions of life. In other words, as

people live their day to day life, they suffer different degrees of

anxiety about test. Test anxiety, also called “examination fever”

is defined by Foa and Franklin (2001) a magazine for test

principles, as an abnormal and persistent fear of test anxiety in

which an individual may spend too much time obsessing over

test situations or trying to avoid talking about it.

Many people experience fear or stress regarding test or

examination at some point in their lives, and test anxiety

becomes a problem when it stand in the way experiencing it in

life. Test anxiety is, in short, abnormal fear for test situation or

examinations. A person suffering from test anxiety becomes

afraid, anxious or unable to function when they think of, talk

about or any way hear or experience anything associated with

testing.

Test anxiety, therefore, is the fear a student exhibit

before, during or after writing test. It involves a combination of

physiological over-arousal, worry and dread about test

performance. It is prevalent amongst the student population all

over the world, and has been studied formally since the

early1950s (Mandlar and Sarason, 1952)

Empirical review 8

Psychological and psychiatric evidence have shown the

possibility of alleviating a wide range of phobic problems using

systematic desensitization. Research suggest that it is most

effective when used to treat anxiety disorders, particularly

specific phobias, social anxiety, public speaking anxiety and

generalized anxiety disorder (Chambless and Sanderson, 1996,

Emnelkamp,1994). Systematic desensitization has been found

to be effective for the treatment of the following, asthmatic

attack, (Moore, 1965). Speech disorder, (Walton & Mather,

1960), insomnia (steinmark & Borkovec 1974) and anger

(Rimm & Masters 1971).

Research hypothesis

The following research hypotheses were formulated to

guide the study.

Ho: There would be no significant difference in test anxiety

level of groups with moderate and high entry anxiety level

at the end of treatment.

Ho: There would be no significant difference in test anxiety

level of groups subject to systematic desensitization

therapy and control after treatment.

Ho: There would be no significant gender difference in the test

anxiety level after treatment.

Methodology9

Participants

Out of population of 501 student of the department of

psychology, Ebonyi state University, Abakaliki, a sample of one

hundred and twenty five (125) subjects were randomly

selected for the study, out of which seventy-eight (78) were

test anxious, and these were subjects to treatment and as such

were used for this study.

Instrument

The main instrument used for assessment was test

anxiety inventory (TAI), originally developed by Spieberger

(1980) but revalidated in Nigeria by Paraform psychometric

centre (PPC) in 1997, and further revalidated by

Egbochukwu(2004). The inventory was administered to the

randomly selected intact classes.

The test anxiety inventory (TAI) Specified that subject

whose scores fall bellow 34-37 and 34.77 normal score for

Nigeria sample, for male and females respectively should be

regarded as not having problem with test anxiety. Subjects

who scored more than 34.48 and 34.78 to 49.99 moderate and

50.00 and above are regarded as having scored very high.

Procedure

The administration of the instrument followed the steps

below:

i. Pre-treatment Assessment (pre-test)

ii. Treatment

iii. Post-treatment Assessment (post-test)

10

Test anxiety inventory (TAI) developed by Spieberger

(1980) was used to identify students who were test anxious.

This group formed the experimental group while the non test

anxiety group formed the control group.

The experimental group was exposed to systematic

desensitization two times per week for 30 days and a total of

eight sessions. Level of anxiety was measured and recorded

after each session. The treatment was carried out in the

psychological clinic of Ebonyi State University, Abakaliki.

DESIGN AND STATISTICS

The design used for this study was a 2x2 factorial design.

This study is a quasi-experimental study.

Data Analysis

The generated data were analyzed to determine the effect

of treatment.

TABLE 1: 2-WAY ANALYSIS OF VARIANCE FOR EFFECT OFTREATMENT GROUPS AND ENTRY TEST ANXIETY LEVEL ATPOST-TEST

Sources SS DF MS F SIGEntry test anxiety Level 2201.566 1 2201.556 27.458 >.05Treatment 742.580 1 742.580 9.261 >.052-way interactions entry testAnxiety level vs treatment 36.1.822 1 361.822 4.513 >.05Error 5913.311 74 80.180Total 23.014 77 22.890

TABLE 2: DISTRBUTION OF POST MEAN ON THE DIFFERENCE IN

THE TEST ANXIETY LEVEL OF MALES AND FEMALES AFTER

TREATMENT

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GENDER SYSTEMATIC DESENSITIZATION CONTROL TOTALMale 43.58 (9) 446.59 (39) 46.59(39)Female 42.00 (19) 49.65 (20) 45.92 (39)Total 42.79 (38) 49.55 (40) 46.26 (78)

TABLE 3: 2-WAY ANOVA SHOWING INTERACTION EFFECTS OFTREATMENT BY SEX AT THE TREATMENT

SOURCE SS DF MS F SIGTreatment 890.656 1 890.656 7.570 0.007Sex 9.2464 1 9.246 0.079 0.7802-way interactions treatment vs sex 15.418 1 15.418 0.131 0.718Error 3.231 74 117.650Total 77

Results

In order to determine the effects of SD on the test anxiety

level of groups at the end of treatment, the following

hypotheses were tested using test anxiety as dependent

variable.

In table 1, a 2-way analysis of variance shows the f-ratio

for the effect of entry level to be 27.458 with df (1, 74). This is

significant at p<0.05. Similarly, the f-ratio for treatment groups

was found to be 9.261 with df (1,74), which was also

significant at p<0.005.

Thus, the two null hypotheses for test anxiety level and

treatment were rejected. It is therefore, concluded that:

i. There was significant difference in the test anxiety level

of groups subjected to the SD therapy and control after

treatment.

12

ii. There was a significant difference in the test anxiety

level of groups with moderate and high entry test

anxiety level at the end of treatment

Table 2 shows the mean score of males and females after

treatment. A closer examination shows that cells are quite

close under each therapy, which indicates that there is no

significant difference in the mean scores. Similarly, the f-ratio

for sex table 3, was found to be f = 0.079 with df of (1,74) and

p<0.05. This implies that there is no significant difference in

the test anxiety level of males and females after treatment.

Thus, the null hypothesis which state that there is no

significant difference in male and female subjects indicated that

the effect of treatment, as scores in the table 2 confirm this

when the hypothesis of no significant effect of treatment by

gender on test anxiety level at the end of treatment stated

earlier is retained.

Discussion

The findings of this study indicate that there is a

significant difference between the treatment and control groups

on the reduction of test anxiety level at the end of treatment

and that entry test anxiety level and treatments were

significant. These findings are in line with Akimboye’s (1992)

findings on counseling procedure on the treatment of

psychological and emotional maladjustment. The finding also

indicates that both high and moderate test anxiety subjects in

the treatment and control groups responded differently.

Following the observed effects of entry test anxiety level

on the final test anxiety level of subjects, further analysis was

carried out on the other secondary independent variable, which13

was gender. Considering the hypothesis on gender, findings

revealed that there was no significant difference between male

and female responses to treatment in the same way. In terms

of test anxiety reduction, gender was not found to be

significant.

These findings run counter to the general assumption that

females tend to exhibit severe fear and anxiety more than their

male counterparts in every day life. These results agreed with

the work of Seeley, Storey, Wagner, Walker and Watts (2004),

that there would be no significant statistical difference between

gender and anxiety levels in their study of anxiety and sex

difference in social volley ball players. Other studies such as

Kirkland (1917) confirm the above findings in his work on

reduction of fear and anxiety primarily among elementary

school children.

However, a few researches conducted in this area have

shown that there is a significant difference between males and

females in the manifestation of the fears and anxieties

(Makinde, 2000). The result also showed that females manifest

fears and anxieties at a greater degree in varying situations.

Other studies which indicated high female anxiety to be more

than their male counterpart include Krane and Williams (1994).

Sewell and Edmondson (1996) found that females show a

higher Mathematics anxiety, which could result in lower self-

confidence tan their male counterparts. Other suggestions and

recommendations raised during the course of this work were

also discussed.

Conclusion14

Test anxiety has been identified as a factor in low academic

performance among adolescents. Poor academic performance

among university undergraduates does not solely result from

poor reading habit nor teaching method adopted by the

lecturers but mainly result from examination fears which is in

tandem with poor self esteem and confidence

Systematic desensitization has been found to be very

effective in the treatment of test anxiety.

Recommendation

We recommend that undergraduates undergo psychological

assessment before being admitted into the university and a

periodic assessment to identify individual problems regarding

academic performance.

Reference

Adedipe, O. (1984). Differential Effectiveness of ModelReinforcement and Desensitization Techniques in

15

Improving performance. Unpublished doctorialDissertation, Ibadan, University of Ibadan.

Adeola, A.O. (1987). The Effectiveness of Relaxation procedurein anxiety Management. Nigerian Journal of educationalpsychology, 2 (1),23-29.

Akimboye, J.O (1992).Behaviour Therapy and Other TreatmentStrategies, Ibadan: Paper Bark Limited.

Anameze, I.N. (1992). Effects of Value Clarification and SelfConfrontation Counseling Approaches and AchievementMotivation of Secondary School Students. UnpublishedPh.D., Thesis, University of Nigeria , Nsukka.

Bernstein. G.A. Layne A.E, Egan E.A. School basedinterventions for anxious children. Journal of the Americanacademy of child and adolescent psychiatry; 2005, 44;1118-1127.

Borkovec T.D & Costello E. (1993) Efficacy of applied relaxationand cognitive behavioural therapy in the treatment ofgeneralized anxiety disorder. Journal of consulting &clinical psychology 61, 611-619.

Borkovec T.D & Ruscio A.M (2001) Psychotherapy forgeneralized anxiety disorder. Journal of clinical psychiatry,62(suppl 11) 37-42.

Borkovec T.D; Newman M.G, PINCUS AC. A Componentanalysis of cognitive Behavioural therapy for generalizedanxiety disorder and the role of interpersonal problems.Journal of consulting and clinical psychology (2002) 70;288-298.

Brany, C.E. (2008). One Dimensional Man, Boston. BeaconPress.

Chambless. D.C, Sanderson W.C Shoham V. Bennett Johnson S.Pope K.S. (1996). An update on empirically validatedtherapies. Clinical psychologist, 49, 5-18.

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Coodkin, P. (1998). Basic Conceptual problems in thepsychology of Thinking. New York: Academy of Science.

Egbochukwu, E,O. (1998). Differential effectiveness ofSystematic Desensitization and Rational Emotive Therapyin Reduction of Test Anxiety. Journal of School ofLanguage, 11 (2) 25-50.

Elis, A. (1977). Reason and Emotion in psychology, 3rd Edition,New York, McGraw. Hill Companies.

ENCARTA, (2007). Thinking and Creativity. New York Academyof sciences. Gregory, E.R. (1999). Knowledge and HumanInterests. London: Heinemann.

Gregory. R.J (1999) Foundations of intellectual assessment.The WAIS – III and other tests in clinical practice Boston;Allyn & Bacon.

Hoeksema, N.S. (2004) Abnormal Psychology, 3rd Edition. NewYork, McGraw Hill Companies.

Ibrahim, C.D. (2004). Understanding SystematicDesensitization. Zaria. Ahmadu Bell University. Press Ltd.

James. A, Solar A. Weatherall. R. cognitive Behavioural therapyfor anxiety disorders in children and adolescents(Cochrane review) in the Cochrane Library, Wiley(Chisester UK).

Kendall P.C, Hudson J.L, Gosh E. Cognitive Behavioural therapyfor anxiety disordered youth; a randomized clinical trialevaluating child and family modalities. Journal ofconsulting and clinical psychology 2008;76;282-297

Makinde, B.O. (2000). Behavioural Therapy for performanceanxiety: A psychodynamic Explanation for Rapidity ofTreatment. Hypnosis 9 (3) 175-181.

Martins Z.T. (1994). Individual Therapy in Britain. London,Harper.

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Rim. D.C & Masters J.C (1979) behaviour therapy techniquesand empirical findings (2nd ed) New York Academic Press.

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Nwani, B. E. & Udechukwu, D. C., (2013); Systematic Desensitization Therapy as Panacea for the Reduction of Test Anxiety among University Undergraduates, ANSU Journal of Arts and Social Sciences, 2 (1):99-106

Systematic Desensitization Therapy as Panacea for the Reduction of Test Anxiety Among University Undergraduates

Nwani Benjamin Eze Department of PsychologyFaculty of Social Sciences Ebonyi State UniversityAbakaliki [email protected]

Udechukwu D.C Department of PsychologyFaculty of Social Sciences Ebonyi State UniversityAbakaliki

[email protected]

AbstractThe present study focused on the effect of systematic desensitization therapy (SDT) on the reductionof test anxiety on some identified test anxious undergraduates. A total of one hundred and twentyfive (125) males and females undergraduates from psychology department in Ebonyi StateUniversity, Abakaliki participated in the study. They comprised 78 anxious and 48 non-anxious withthe age range of 20-32 years, and a mean age of 25.60 years. Test anxiety inventory (TAI)developed by Spielberger (1980) was used to identify students who were test anxious. The study is a2 x 2 factorial design and a two-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used for hypothesistesting. The result indicates that STD is effective in the test anxiety of students who were testedanxious, f(1,74) = 9.261, p<0.05). The result also showed that entry test anxiety level of subjectswere statistically significant on the level of reduction of test anxiety undergraduate, f(1,74) =27.458, p<0.05. The result showed that sex had no significant effect on the reduction of test anxietyundergraduates f(1,74) = 7.570, p<0.05. There was also significant interaction effect on entry testanxiety level and therapy at the end of each treatment, f(1,74) = 4.513, p<0.05. Since SDT hadshown to be effective in the reduction of test anxiety among undergraduates in a NigerianUniversity samples, it is recommended that this therapy be used in the treatment of test anxiety. It isalso recommended that before the treatment of test anxiety, the entry test anxiety level ofparticipants must be considered so as to form a base for the therapy.

Keywords: Systematic Desensitization Therapy, Test Anxiety, Undergraduate, Gender.

99



ANSU Journal of Arts and Social Sciences

IntroductionIn the most recent past, stakeholders whichinclude; parents, teachers, students,government, media etc. have becomeincreasingly worried about the falling standardof education in Nigeria, especially at thetertiary level. The media have equally raisedalarm on the incidence of examinationmalpractices as well as other ills plaguing thenation’s universities. To this end, Seminars,Workshop and Conferences have beenorganized to proffer solutions to the problem.

While many people tend to focusattention on the educational system itself,others blame it on the lecturers and theteaching methods they adopt, and yet someothers still blame it on the inability of thestudents to read and comprehend what havebeen taught (Adedipe 1984; Okoye 1986 andAmaeze, 1992). In addition, there could be theproblem of emotional maladjustment whichseem to be plaguing the Nigerian universitygraduates due to societal expectations.

Everyone experiences anxiety, mostpeople feel anxious in specific situations suchas before an examination, appearing forinterview or even delivering a speech. Olusade(2003) defines anxiety as a chronic fear thatoccurs when a threatening event is in the offingbut is unpredictable.

Similarly, Rollo May (1977) definedanxiety from an existential point of view as anapprehension cued off by a threat to values thatan individual hold essential to his/her existenceas a personality. From psychoanalyticperspective, Goldenson (1970) defined anxietyas a diffused feeling of dread, apprehension ofan impending catastrophy experienced whenone is threatened by an unknown danger fromwithin or by unconscious conflict.

Still, Kemmel (1975) defined anxietyfrom behavioural perspective as a conditionedform of reaction which has a highly usefulfunction of motivating and reinforcingbehaviour that tends to avoid or prevent thereoccurrence of pain production. However,

Borkovec (1977) summarized these definitionsby defining anxiety as a complex and variablepattern of behaviour characterized bysubjective apprehension and tensionaccompanied or associated with physiologicalactivation which occurs in response to variousstimuli of both external and internal sources.From Borkovec’s summary of anxiety, it hasshown to have various types which includephobic, post traumatic, panic, generalized,obsessive compulsion anxieties etc. The focusof this study is to test anxiety which fallswithin the category of phobic anxiety. Phobicanxiety is an intense irrational and unrealisticemotion characterized by the avoidance of anobject or situation recognized by an individualto be harmful (Omoluabi, 1995). Whenapproaching the phobic object or situation, theindividual’s response of discomfort results ininhibited motor reaction, apprehension andfeeling of imminent catastrophy. When incontact with the phobic object or situation, theindividual trembles, perspires profusely andelicit the characteristics of generalized anxietywhich include; trembling, jitteriness, easilyfatigued, inability to relax, shallow respiration,autonomic hyperactivity characterized byincreased heart beat, profused sweatingespecially in the arm pit and palm, dizziness,frequent urination, feeling of butterfly in thestomach. It is also characterized byhyperarousal which manifest as ageyness,being easily startled, inability to concentrateand general irritability. Apart from thesegeneral characteristics, it has been found thatindividuals with high level of anxiety alsomanifest mild depression.

Test anxiety therefore is a combinationof perceived physiological over arousal, feelingof worry and dread, self depreciating thoughts,tension and somatic symptoms that occurduring test situations (Omoluabi, 1995). It is aphysiological condition in which peopleexperience extreme stress, anxiety anddiscomfort during and/or before taking a test.These responses can drastically hinder an

100


individual’s ability to perform well andnegatively affects their social, emotional andbehavioural development and feelings aboutthemselves and school. Test anxiety isprevalent among student populations of theworld. Test anxiety can also be labeled asanticipatory anxiety, situational anxiety orevaluation anxiety. Test anxiety have shown aconsistently negative relationship with testperformance. Again the test anxious studentsare found to perform worse than non anxiousstudents (Culler, Ralph. E; Holaham, Charles.J.1980). The inferior performance may not arisefrom intellectual deficits, but because testingsituations are threatening to a test anxiousperson’s sense of self.

In the present study, the efficacy ofsystematic desensitization for the treatment ofanxiety is investigated. Systematicdesensitization was developed by Joseph Wolpein 1958 to help people who have maladaptiveanxiety. The process of systematicdesensitization was based on the principle ofcounter-conditioning which implies the use oflearning procedure to substitute one type ofresponse for another. Wolpe, in developingsystematic desensitization, therefore hoped tosubstitute relaxation for anxiety. The processinvolves the pairing of relaxation with theimagined scene that creates anxious situationfor the client.

Since this study examined the effect ofsystematic desensitization therapy on thereduction of test anxiety in universityundergraduates, it is important that the issue ofsex in considered along side so as to ascertainif treatment affect observed is as a result ofgender interference. The establishment ofbaseline before treatment is of paramountimportance in behaviour modification(Akimboye, 1992).

This gives the direction to the study andhelps the researchers in ascertaining iftreatment is effective or not. The entry testanxiety level of subjects must, therefore, beconsidered. This will help in the establishment

of baseline for this study, and also show if ithas any effect on the treatment and final testanxiety level of the subjects.

However, it is yet to be establishedwhether the changes observed from treatmentwith the aforementioned therapy are due toother underlying factors such as entry testanxiety level, or sex that can reduce testanxiety among students. Thus, it is importantthat the interaction of factors such as entry testanxiety level and sex with treatment beexplored empirically.

Theoretical reviewMany theories have been used in recent timesby scholars to help understand the underlyingfactors that cause anxiety. Anxiety is anemotional problem, which if not attended to,could be carried over to examination situation,and researches have shown that this couldresult in neurotic disorders (Adeola, 1987).Anxiety, in most cases may result to frustrationand this is capable of affecting the totality ofthe individual as well as his/her personality.

The concept of test anxiety as one of thepsychopathologies has been of great interest tomany psychologists such as Ralph. E, Culler,Holahan, Charles. J (1980) and Omoluabi. P.(1995). Their findings have shown that testanxiety has influenced behaviour in one way orthe other. In its pure form, test anxiety usuallyappears as a vague sort of uneasiness, a feelingof panic, discomfort and helplessness or anawareness of tension as a result of animpending test situation.

Universal conceptualization of anxietyregards it as a generalized feeling of fear andapprehension that might be related to aparticular event of object accompanied byincreased physiological arousal (Coodkin,1998). Freud (1965) saw anxiety as the resultof constant conflict among the id, ego andsuper ego, and he referred to all forms ofbehaviour associated with anxiety to anxietyneurosis.

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Olusade (2003) sees anxiety as achronic fear that occurs when a threateningevent is in the offing but unpredictable.Furthermore, anxiety is more future orientedand global, referring to the state in which anindividual is inordinately apprehensive, tensedand uneasy about the prospect of somethingterrible happening. It can be an unpleasantemotional state of worry, apprehension andtension. (Brandy, 2008).

Although anxiety can be a positivemotivating force; its effect can be quitedebilitating. If anxiety is left unchecked ortreated, it may eventually impair a person’shealth and lead to hospitalization. Anxiety, inmost cases result to frustration and this iscapable of affecting the totality of theindividual as well as his or personality.

Events following an individual’s lifetaking a test or examination can be maladaptiveif such an individual continually exhibit ananxious behaviour each time he or she is facedwith a test or examination. This is the situationreferred to as test anxiety.

On the other hand, a test can be seen asa series of questions, problems or practical taskto find out somebody’s knowledge, ability orexperience (Encarta, 2007). In clinical practice,test are used to get a sense of a client’sintellectual strength and weaknesses,particularly when mental retardation or braindamage is suspected (Gregory, 1999).

Intelligent test are also used in schoolsetting to identify children with intellectualdifficulties and to place children gifted in theclassroom. They are used in occupationalsettings and the military to evaluate adult’scapabilities for certain job or types of service(Hoeksema, 2004). In educational setting, it isthe examination designed to objectivelymeasure the academic aptitude of the studentsfrom certain social background and withdifferent educational experience (Makinde,1994).

In conducting this test, individualreaction towards it may generate a feeling that

could elicit anxiety, hence test anxiety. Becauseof the failure caused by test anxiety in oureducational system, it has come to the minds ofresearchers to identity its source and create away of averting it among our universityundergraduates and the school system ingeneral.

According to Jennet (1999) test anxietyis the thought, fear and emotional associationwith test events that we experience undernormal conditions of life. In other words, aspeople live their day to day life, they sufferdifferent degrees of anxiety about test. Testanxiety, also called “examination fever” isdefined by Foa and Franklin (2001) a magazinefor test principles, as an abnormal andpersistent fear of test anxiety in which anindividual may spend too much time obsessingover test situations or trying to avoid talkingabout it.

Many people experience fear or stressregarding test or examination at some point intheir lives, and test anxiety becomes a problemwhen it stand in the way experiencing it in life.Test anxiety is, in short, abnormal fear for testsituation or examinations. A person sufferingfrom test anxiety becomes afraid, anxious orunable to function when they think of, talkabout or any way hear or experience anythingassociated with testing.

Test anxiety, therefore, is the fear astudent exhibit before, during or after writingtest. It involves a combination of physiologicalover-arousal, worry and dread about testperformance. It is prevalent amongst thestudent population all over the world, and hasbeen studied formally since the early1950s(Mandlar and Sarason, 1952)

Empirical review Psychological and psychiatric evidence haveshown the possibility of alleviating a widerange of phobic problems using systematicdesensitization. Research suggest that it is mosteffective when used to treat anxiety disorders,particularly specific phobias, social anxiety,

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public speaking anxiety and generalizedanxiety disorder (Chambless and Sanderson,1996, Emnelkamp,1994). Systematicdesensitization has been found to be effectivefor the treatment of the following, asthmaticattack, (Moore, 1965). Speech disorder,(Walton & Mather, 1960), insomnia (steinmark& Borkovec 1974) and anger (Rimm &Masters 1971).

Research hypothesisThe following research hypotheses wereformulated to guide the study.Ho: There would be no significant difference in

test anxiety level of groups withmoderate and high entry anxiety level atthe end of treatment.

Ho: There would be no significant difference intest anxiety level of groups subject tosystematic desensitization therapy andcontrol after treatment.

Ho: There would be no significant genderdifference in the test anxiety level aftertreatment.

Methodology ParticipantsOut of population of 501 student of thedepartment of psychology, Ebonyi stateUniversity, Abakaliki, a sample of one hundredand twenty five (125) subjects were randomlyselected for the study, out of which seventy-eight (78) were test anxious, and these weresubjects to treatment and as such were used forthis study.

InstrumentThe main instrument used for assessment wastest anxiety inventory (TAI), originallydeveloped by Spieberger (1980) but revalidatedin Nigeria by Paraform psychometric centre(PPC) in 1997, and further revalidated byEgbochukwu(2004). The inventory was

administered to the randomly selected intactclasses.

The test anxiety inventory (TAI)Specified that subject whose scores fall bellow34-37 and 34.77 normal score for Nigeriasample, for male and females respectivelyshould be regarded as not having problem withtest anxiety. Subjects who scored more than34.48 and 34.78 to 49.99 moderate and 50.00and above are regarded as having scored veryhigh.

ProcedureThe administration of the instrument followedthe steps below:i. Pre-treatment Assessment (pre-test)ii. Treatmentiii. Post-treatment Assessment (post-test)

Test anxiety inventory (TAI) developed bySpieberger (1980) was used to identify studentswho were test anxious. This group formed theexperimental group while the non test anxietygroup formed the control group.

The experimental group was exposed tosystematic desensitization two times per weekfor 30 days and a total of eight sessions. Levelof anxiety was measured and recorded aftereach session. The treatment was carried out inthe psychological clinic of Ebonyi StateUniversity, Abakaliki.

Design and StatisticsThe design used for this study was a 2x2factorial design. This study is a quasi-experimental study.

Data Analysis The generated data were analyzed to determinethe effect of treatment.

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TABLE 1: 2-Way Analysis Of VarianceFor Effect Of Treatment Groups AndEntry Test Anxiety Level At Post-Test

Sources SS DF

MS F SIG

Entry testanxietyLevel

2201.566 1 2201.556 27.458 >.05

Treatment 742.580 1 742.580 9.261 >.052-wayinteractionsentry testAnxietylevel vstreatment

36.1.822 1 361.822 4.513 >.05

Error 5913.311 74 80.180Total 23.014 77 22.890

TABLE 2: Distrbution Of Post Mean On TheDifference In The Test Anxiety LevelOf Males And Females AfterTreatment

Gender

Systematicdesensitization

Control Total

Male 43.58 (9) 446.59(39)

46.59(39)

Female 42.00 (19) 49.65 (20) 45.92(39)

Total 42.79 (38) 49.55 (40) 46.26(78)

TABLE 3: 2-Way Anova Showing InteractionEffects Of Treatment By Sex At TheTreatment

SOURCE SS DF MS F SIGTreatment 890.656 1 890.656 7.570 0.007Sex 9.2464 1 9.246 0.079 0.7802-wayinteractionstreatmentvs sex

15.418 1 15.418 0.131 0.718

Error 3.231 74 117.650Total 77

ResultsIn order to determine the effects of SD on thetest anxiety level of groups at the end of

treatment, the following hypotheses were testedusing test anxiety as dependent variable.

In table 1, a 2-way analysis of varianceshows the f-ratio for the effect of entry level tobe 27.458 with df (1, 74). This is significant atp<0.05. Similarly, the f-ratio for treatmentgroups was found to be 9.261 with df (1,74),which was also significant at p<0.005.

Thus, the two null hypotheses for testanxiety level and treatment were rejected. It istherefore, concluded that:i. There was significant difference in the

test anxiety level of groups subjected tothe SD therapy and control aftertreatment.

ii. There was a significant difference in thetest anxiety level of groups withmoderate and high entry test anxietylevel at the end of treatment

Table 2 shows the mean score of males andfemales after treatment. A closer examinationshows that cells are quite close under eachtherapy, which indicates that there is nosignificant difference in the mean scores.Similarly, the f-ratio for sex table 3, was foundto be f = 0.079 with df of (1,74) and p<0.05.This implies that there is no significantdifference in the test anxiety level of males andfemales after treatment.

Thus, the null hypothesis which statethat there is no significant difference in maleand female subjects indicated that the effect oftreatment, as scores in the table 2 confirm thiswhen the hypothesis of no significant effect oftreatment by gender on test anxiety level at theend of treatment stated earlier is retained. Discussion

The findings of this study indicate thatthere is a significant difference between thetreatment and control groups on the reductionof test anxiety level at the end of treatment andthat entry test anxiety level and treatments weresignificant. These findings are in line withAkimboye’s (1992) findings on counselingprocedure on the treatment of psychological

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and emotional maladjustment. The finding alsoindicates that both high and moderate testanxiety subjects in the treatment and controlgroups responded differently.

Following the observed effects of entrytest anxiety level on the final test anxiety levelof subjects, further analysis was carried out onthe other secondary independent variable,which was gender. Considering the hypothesison gender, findings revealed that there was nosignificant difference between male and femaleresponses to treatment in the same way. Interms of test anxiety reduction, gender was notfound to be significant.

These findings run counter to thegeneral assumption that females tend to exhibitsevere fear and anxiety more than their malecounterparts in every day life. These resultsagreed with the work of Seeley, Storey,Wagner, Walker and Watts (2004), that therewould be no significant statistical differencebetween gender and anxiety levels in theirstudy of anxiety and sex difference in socialvolley ball players. Other studies such asKirkland (1917) confirm the above findings inhis work on reduction of fear and anxietyprimarily among elementary school children.

However, a few researches conducted inthis area have shown that there is a significantdifference between males and females in themanifestation of the fears and anxieties(Makinde, 2000). The result also showed thatfemales manifest fears and anxieties at agreater degree in varying situations. Otherstudies which indicated high female anxiety tobe more than their male counterpart includeKrane and Williams (1994). Sewell andEdmondson (1996) found that females show ahigher Mathematics anxiety, which could resultin lower self- confidence tan their malecounterparts. Other suggestions andrecommendations raised during the course ofthis work were also discussed.

Conclusion

Test anxiety has been identified as a factor inlow academic performance among adolescents.Poor academic performance among universityundergraduates does not solely result from poorreading habit nor teaching method adopted bythe lecturers but mainly result fromexamination fears which is in tandem with poorself esteem and confidence

Systematic desensitization has beenfound to be very effective in the treatment oftest anxiety.

RecommendationWe recommend that undergraduates undergopsychological assessment before beingadmitted into the university and a periodicassessment to identify individual problemsregarding academic performance.

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