Effectiveness of Cognitive Behaviour Therapy in the Management of Anxiety among School Students

Anxiety is a feeling of uneasiness characterized by irritability, palpitations, dry mouth, tension and a feeling of impending doom. Anxiety feels like “fear”; one might know what one is afraid of, but it is difficult to know what makes one anxious. Anxiety impairs academic performance. The aim of the present study is to find out effectiveness of Cognitive behaviour therapy in the management of anxiety among school students. One hundred thirty healthy and well motivated school students, sixty five Boys and sixty five girls, studying Higher Secondary Course at Cambridge Matriculation and Higher Secondary School, Bangalore, constituted as a sample for the present study. School students were administered with 16 Personality Factor Questionnaire Form D (16 PF) to assess anxiety in their basic personality. Out of 130 school students, 50 students, twenty five Boys and twenty five Girls, who showed high anxiety in the assessment of personality (16 PF), were administered with State Trait Anxiety Index (STAI) to assess the magnitude and severity of anxiety. Fifty School students, who were identified as anxiety prone in the personality test, showed high anxiety on STAI. They were managed through Cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT) to counteract ill-effects of anxiety for three months. Results clearly indicate that there is extremely significant difference (P > 0.0001) existing between pre and post test Trait anxiety Percentile Rank scores of school students. CBT helped in the management of anxiety among school students. CBT seems to be one of the most effective, less time consuming and more economical therapeutic techniques in the management of anxiety among school students.