Abstract
One session of Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) appeared to be an effective treatment for test anxiety, reducing reported physiological distress, worry, and fears of negative evaluation. The research design included two components: a comparison study, comparing Immediate Treatment and Wait List groups, and a replication study, comparing the treatment response of Immediate and Delayed (Treated Wait List) groups. Seventeen test anxious university students were randomly assigned to one session of EMDR or Wait List. At post-test, the Immediate group demonstrated significant improvement, compared to the Wait List group, on the Test Anxiety Inventory (TAI) and Fear of Negative Evaluation Scale. Treatment effects were maintained at follow-up. The Wait List group received treatment after post-measures were taken. Treatment of the Delayed group replicated effects. Improvement was reflected by large treatment effect sizes and a decrease in percentile ranking on the TAI from the 90th to the 50th percentile.
Similar content being viewed by others
REFERENCES
Barlow, D. H. (1988). Anxiety and its disorders: The nature and treatment of anxiety and panic. New York: Guilford.
Bauman, W., & Melnyk, W. T. (1994). A controlled comparison of eye movements and finger tapping in the treatment of test anxiety. Journal of Behavior Therapy and Experimental Psychiatry, 25 (1), 29–33.
Bernstein, E., & Putnam, F. (1986). Development, reliability, and validity of a dissociation scale. Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, 174, 727–735.
De Jongh, A., & Ten Broeke, E. (1998). Treatment of choking phobia by targeting traumatic memories with EMDR: A case study. Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, 5, 264–269.
De Jongh, A., Ten Broeke, E., & Renssen, M. R. (1999). Treatment of specific phobias with eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR): Protocol, empirical status, and conceptual issues. Journal of Anxiety Disorders, 13, 69–85.
Foa, E. B., & Meadows, E. A. (1997). Psychosocial treatments for posttraumatic stress disorder: A critical review. Annual Review of Psychology, 48, 449–480.
Gosselin, P., & Matthews, W. J. (1995). Eye movement desensitization and reprocessing in the treatment of test anxiety: A study of the effects of expectancy and eye movement. Journal of Behavior Therapy and Experimental Psychiatry, 26 (4), 331–337.
Kaplan, R. M., & Saccuzzo, D. P. (1997). Psychological testing: Principles, applications, and issues. Pacific Grove, CA: Brooks/Cole.
Leary, M. R. (1983). A brief version of the Fear of Negative Evaluation Scale. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 9, 371–375.
Leary, M. R., & Kowalski, R. M. (1995). Social anxiety. New York: Guilford Press.
Lee, C., & Gavriel, H. (1998). Treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder: A comparison of stress inoculation training with prolonged exposure and eye movement desensitization and reprocessing. Proceedings of the World Congress of Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies, Acapulco.
Marcus, S.V., Marquis, P., & Sakai, C. (1997). Controlled study of treatment of PTSD using EMDR in an HMO setting. Psychotherapy, 34, 307–315.
Rothbaum, B. O. (1997). A controlled study of eye movement desensitization and reprocessing in the treatment of posttraumatic stress disordered sexual assault victims. Bulletin of the Menninger Clinic, 61, 317–334.
Sapp, M. (1993). Test anxiety: Applied research, assessment, and treatment interventions. Lanham, MD: University Press of America.
Sarason, I. G. (1980). Introduction to the study of test anxiety. In I. G. Sarason (Ed.), Test anxiety: Theory, research, and applications (pp. 3–14). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
Sarason, I. G., & Sarason, B. R. (1990). Test anxiety. In H. Leitenberg, (Ed.), Handbook of social and evaluation anxiety (pp. 475–496). New York: Plenum Press.
Scheck, M. M., Schaeffer, J. A., & Gillette, C. S. (1998). Brief psychological intervention with traumatized young women: The efficacy of eye movement desensitization and reprocessing. Journal of Traumatic Stress, 11, 25–44.
Scholing, A., & Emmelkamp, P. M. G. (1990). Social phobia: Nature and treatment. In H. Leitenberg, (Ed.), Handbook of social and evaluation anxiety (pp. 269–324). New York: Plenum Press.
Shapiro F. (1989). Efficacy of the eye movement desensitization procedure: A new treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder. Journal of Traumatic Stress, 2 (2), 199–223.
Shapiro, F. (1995). Eye movement desensitization and reprocessing: Basic principles, protocols and procedures. New York: Guilford Press.
Spielberger, C. D. (1980). Preliminary professional manual for the Test Anxiety Inventory (“Test Anxiety Inventory”) TAI. Palo Alto: Consulting Psychologists Press, Inc.
Spielberger, C. D. (1983). Manual for the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) (Form Y) (“Self-Evaluation Questionnaire”). Palo Alto: Consulting Psychologists Press, Inc.
Vaughan, K., Wiese, M., Gold, R., & Tarrier, N. (1994). Eye-movement desensitization: Symptom change in post-traumatic stress disorder. British Journal of Psychiatry, 164, 533–541.
Watson, D., & Friend, R. (1969). Measurement of social evaluative anxiety. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 33, 448–459.
Wilson, S. A., Becker, L. A., & Tinker, R. H. (1995). Eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) treatment for psychologically traumatized individuals. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 63 (6), 928–937.
Wilson, S. A., Becker, L. A., & Tinker, R. H. (1997). 15-month follow-up of eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) treatment for psychological trauma. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 65 (6), 1047–1056.
Wine, J. D. (1980). Cognitive-attentional theory of test anxiety. In I. G. Sarason (Ed.), Test anxiety: Theory, research, and applications (pp. 349–385). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Wolpe, J. (1991). The practice of behavior therapy. (4th ed.). New York: Pergamon Press.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Maxfield, L., Melnyk, W.T. Single Session Treatment of Test Anxiety with Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR). International Journal of Stress Management 7, 87–101 (2000). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1009580101287
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1009580101287