Differential efficacy of coping strategies in the reduction of test anxiety as a function of the variable predominantly affected

An experimental investigation was undertaken in order to find evidence of the differential effects of three coping programs designed to reduce test anxiety. The experiment involved real clinical cases studied along eight years, in the context of applied research. Specifically, our aim was to analyse whether the effects of three different treatments were due to the predominant component of participants anxiety. A 3 × 2 × 2 (inter) × 2 (intra) design was employed with the following factors: Therapy (intrasubject factor, pre and post-exam). Treatment (cognitive, physiological and cognitive-physiological). Worry (high-low) and Emotionality (high or low). The results showed that different training programmes did indeed reduce the degree of test anxiety, and that the three programmes did not lead to reductions on the same scale. Furthermore, there are differences in the effectiveness of coping strategies at reducing pre-test anxiety in relation to the dominant variable.