THE EFFECTS OF TWO TYPES OF RELAXATION TRAINING ON STUDENTS' LEVELS OF ANXIETY.

Rasid, Zulkifli Mohamed ; Parish, Thomas S.

ABSTRACT

In the present study, high school students who received training in either behavioral relaxation or progressive muscle relaxation demonstrated significantly lower state anxiety scores than did those who had not received such training. No significant differences were found on trait anxiety scores. There was no significant effect of gender and also no significant interaction effects between the three groups and gender for either state or trait anxiety. Implications of these findings for high school counselors who work with students dealing with anxiety-producing problems are presented.

Findings from several studies (Hill & Sarason, 1966; Lunneburg, 1964; Sarason, 1975) have shown that high anxiety has adverse effects on student learning. Though anxiety may be an unavoidable part of life, May (1977) points out that it can be reduced, and several researchers have developed approaches to reduce anxiety. In the present study, two of these approaches, behavioral relaxation training (Schilling & Poppen, 1983) and progressive muscle relaxation training (Bernstein & Borkovec, 1973) were examined to determine which approach, if either, fosters lower state and trait anxiety in male and female high school students. These approaches were compared with one another, as well as with a no-treatment control group.

METHOD

Eighty-eight high school students originally volunteered to participate, though only 55 (26 males and 29 females) actually completed all phases. There were 18 students in the behavioral relaxation group (Group 1; 9 males and 9 females), 20 students in the progressive relaxation group (Group 2; 9 males and 11 females), and 17 students in the no-treatment control group (8 males and 9 females). All training was done for Groups 1 and 2 via videotaped instructions of the appropriate relaxation technique. A male and a female counseling intern alternated as the therapist and the client in the videotapes. The students were seated in a large auditorium and asked to imitate the different exercises demonstrated by the client in the videotape. Both Groups 1 and 2 completed four 20-minute training sessions in two weeks. The day after the last treatments were administered to Groups 1 and 2, all three groups were asked to complete the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (Spielberger, Gorsuch, & Lushene, 1970).

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

Regarding state anxiety scores, a 3 X 2 analysis of variance revealed a significant treatment effect, F(2, 49). = 5.99, p [less than] .005, but no significant gender effect, F(1, 49) = 1.66,p [greater than] .05, nor a significant interaction effect, F(2, 49) = 1.80, p [greater than] .05. A Tukey post hoc analysis found that the state anxiety scores for Group 1 (mean = 37.33) and Group 2 (mean = 37.75) did not vary significantly from one another, but were both significantly lower than the state anxiety scores for the students in the no-treatment group (mean = 44.53). Regarding trait anxiety scores, a 3 X 2 analysis of variance failed to reveal any significant differences as a function of treatment, F(2, 49) = 0.61, p [greater than] .05, students' gender, F(1, 49) = 0.00, p [greater than] .05, or the interaction between these two variables, F(2, 49) = 0.92, p [greater than] .05.

These findings indicate that both the behavioral relaxation approach and the progressive relaxation approach are capable of helping high school students reduce their state anxiety. Notably, Lasselle and Russell (1993) reported that progressive relaxation had been placed on a list of techniques that high school counselors could use with their students in group counseling, but that behavioral relaxation failed to be included as an option. In light of the findings here, however, it would seem appropriate to include the latter approach, too, as a possible therapeutic procedure that could be used effectively in group counseling, especially when the goal is to reduce students' state anxiety. In fact, behavioral relaxation may actually be the more desirable of the two approaches, since it is less physically taxing in the sense that trainees do not have to tense and relax muscles routinely, as they do while they are engaging in progressive relaxation.

High school counselors may be pleased to learn that reductions in state anxiety were attainable through the use of videotaped presentations, wherein students were effectively introduced two different relaxation procedures. This gives them another way to help students, but at very little cost in time.

While the findings from the present study revealed that both behavioral and progressive relaxation procedures can reduce state anxiety in high school students, the same cannot be said for students' trait anxiety. State anxiety is thought to be more transient, while trait anxiety is believed to be part of one's personality makeup and is therefore more resistant to change. Perhaps more training sessions were needed in order to reduce trait anxiety scores, or one-on-one counseling instead of group counseling. More research is required to determine what is needed in order to effectively reduce trait anxiety in high school students. What can be concluded from the findings, however, is that state anxiety scores, for both male and female high school students, were significantly reduced through the use of videotaped presentations of two relaxation procedures. This should be exciting news for high school counselors, and others, who are looking for ways to help students who experience anxiety and the poor academic ach ievement that is often associated with it.

Zulkifli Mohamed Rasid, Ph.D., Kansas State University, Manhattan, Kansas.

Reprint requests to Thomas S. Parish, Ph.D., Professor, College of Education, Kansas State University, 447 Bluemont Hall, 1100 Mid-Campus Drive, Manhattan, Kansas 66506.

REFERENCES

Bernstein, D. A., & Borkovec, T. D. (1973). Progressive relaxation training: A manual for the helping profession. Champaign, IL: Research Press.

Hill, K. T., Sarason, S. B. (1966). The relation of text anxiety and defensiveness to test and school performance over the elementary school years: A further longitudinal study. Monographs of the Society for Research in Child Development, 21(2, Serial No. 104).

Lasselle, K. M., & Russell, T. T. (1993). To what extent are school counselors using meditation and relaxation techniques? School Counselor, 2, 178-183.

Lunneburg, P. N. (1964). Relations among social desirability, achievement, and anxiety measures in children. Child Development, 35, 169-183.

May, R. (1977). The measuring of anxiety (rev. ed.). New York: Norton.

Sarason, I. G. (1975). Test anxiety, general anxiety, and intellectual performance. Journal of Consulting Psychology, 21, 485-490.

Schilling, D. J., & Poppen, R. (1983). Behavioral relaxation training and assessment. Journal of Behavior Therapy and Experimental Psychiatry, 14, 99-107.

Spielberger, C. D., Gorsuch, R. L., & Lushene, R. E. (1970). The State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) test manual for Form X. Palo Alto, CA: Consulting Psychologists Press.