Researchers find that expressing worries before a stressful situation may be beneficial

By Staff Writer

In the latest issue of the journal Science, research from the University of Chicago shows that students who write about their anxiety before a test may perform better. For the study, the scientists asked 20 college students to take two short math tests.

Participants were only told to do their best on the first test. On the second exam, students were told that if they performed well, they would receive money or that their scores were going to being part of a team effort. They were also told that they would be videotaped and that math teachers would score them.

Before the second test, half of the participants were asked to write about their feelings for 20 minutes, while the other half were told to sit quietly.

The results of the study show that the students who were asked to express themselves performed significantly better. In contrast, those who were asked to sit quietly before the test showed a 12 percent decrease in accuracy, compared to the other group, which experienced a 5 percent increase in accuracy, the researchers wrote.

The authors concluded that writing for 10 minutes before a test may improve the grades of students who experience anxiety.