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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jan 17, 2026

Using Practice Testing, Public Speaking, and Source Monitoring to Examine the Influences of Learning Strategies and Stress on Episodic Memory

Using Practice Testing, Public Speaking, and Source Monitoring to Examine the Influences of Learning Strategies and Stress on Episodic Memory

Published on: June 14, 2019

Single-session expressive writing interventions for test anxiety: a meta-analysis.

Patti O'Meara¹, Benjamin J Lovett¹

¹Teachers College, Columbia University, New York, USA.

Anxiety, Stress, and Coping

|September 19, 2025

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

Single sessions of expressive writing do not significantly reduce test anxiety or improve test performance. Further research is needed to explore effective interventions for academic stress.

Keywords:

Test anxiety anxiety anxiety intervention expressive writing test performance

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Area of Science:

Psychology
Educational Psychology
Intervention Studies

Background:

Test anxiety is a prevalent issue affecting students' academic performance.
Expressive writing, a brief pre-test exercise, has been proposed as a potential intervention for test anxiety.

Purpose of the Study:

To determine the efficacy of single-session expressive writing in reducing test anxiety.
To evaluate whether expressive writing enhances test performance.

Main Methods:

A meta-analysis was conducted on 21 studies with 1,457 participants.
Effect sizes for anxiety and test performance were synthesized and analyzed.

Main Results:

Expressive writing showed a negligible, nonsignificant effect on reducing test anxiety.
The intervention also had a nonsignificant impact on test performance after accounting for outliers.
Significant heterogeneity was observed, but moderators did not yield robust effects.

Conclusions:

Current research does not support single-session expressive writing as an effective treatment for test anxiety.
Alternative interventions with stronger evidence bases should be considered for managing academic stress.