Art-Based Therapy on State Anxiety Among Students facing Board Exam – A Single Group Interventional Study

Introduction & Review: Situational anxiety during an exam is explained as a “transitory state”, activated by anticipation or exposure to an exam, which involves emotional disturbance (Spielberger et al., 2002). Thus, reducing this situational state-anxiety is the objective of this study using art-based therapy as intervention among students facing Board exams. Methodology: Quasi experimental design, the Pre-test post-test research design was used and the non-probability sampling, the convenient sampling method was used. The sample size of the study was 84 students, 38 girls and 46 boys studying XI & XII class in a government school in Tiruvallur district, Tamil Nādu. The State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) was used to assess the State anxiety as a pre-test and post-test measure. The intervention was 30 minutes Art Based Therapy given as a group intervention. The data was statistically analyzed using the SPSS package and- Paired sample t-test, was used. Results & Conclusion: The state-anxiety levels (t=4.328 p < 0.05) of the students facing board exams was found to have significantly reduced following Art-based therapy. This study implies that art-based therapy can be practiced as a periodic activity in higher secondary schools to manage situational anxiety of the students facing board exam.