Student’s reflections of test anxiety interventions: a systematic review

Smith, L, Fayette, R and Putwain, D ORCID: 0000-0001-5196-4270 (2026) Student’s reflections of test anxiety interventions: a systematic review. Pastoral Care in Education. pp. 1-21. ISSN 0264-3944

Preview

Text Students reflections of test anxiety interventions a systematic review.pdf - Published Version Available under License Creative Commons Attribution Non-commercial No Derivatives. Download (1MB) | Preview

Abstract

Students are facing increasing Social, Emotional and Mental Health needs, including coping with test anxiety. Despite research demonstrating the significant impact test anxiety can have upon young people in multiple ways, in many countries there is little support available for schools to better support young people with test anxiety. The purpose of the current review was to provide insight into young people’s views of test anxiety interventions they participated in, to identify which aspects of the interventions are of most value and to understand the difficulties students may have accessing test anxiety interventions. Database searches were conducted and eight studies met the criteria for inclusion in this review. The findings highlighted the positive impact of interventions through enabling young people via cognitive reappraisal to develop strategies to cope with test anxiety. Interventions enabled pupils to improve their well-being and elicited positive emotions. The review identified the importance of practical planning considerations such as group composition and timing factors. The implications for future intervention development and implementation are also discussed.

Item Type:	Article
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Test anxiety; intervention; students; young people; reflections; 3903 Education Systems; 3904 Specialist Studies In Education; 39 Education; Clinical Research; Mental Health; Mental Illness; Behavioral and Social Science; 3.1 Primary prevention interventions to modify behaviours or promote wellbeing; Mental health; 1301 Education Systems; 1302 Curriculum and Pedagogy; 1303 Specialist Studies in Education; 3903 Education systems; 3904 Specialist studies in education
Subjects:	B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > BF Psychology L Education > L Education (General) L Education > LB Theory and practice of education > LB1603 Secondary Education. High schools
Divisions:	Education
Publisher:	Informa UK Limited
Date of acceptance:	5 October 2026
Date of first compliant Open Access:	5 November 2026
Date Deposited:	05 Nov 2026 13:20
Last Modified:	05 Nov 2026 13:20
DOI or ID number:	10.1080/02643944.2026.2746441
URI:	https://researchonline.ljmu.ac.uk/id/eprint/29830

View Item