The Influence Of Adversity Beliefs On Test Anxiety In High School Students:The Mediating Role Of Self-acceptance And Its Intervention

Adolescence is the second peak of self-awareness development and an important stage in the overall development of an individual.The Guideline for Mental Health Education in Primary and Secondary Schools(revised in 2012)states that students should be helped to "actively cope with exam stress and overcome exam anxiety",making it an important part of mental health education in senior secondary schools.The psychological development of high school students is somewhat different from that of secondary school students,as they are transitioning from a childish adolescence to a mature youth,with significant physical and psychological changes taking place.In fact,almost half of all students experience stress during examinations,and exam anxiety is a common and unavoidable problem for high school students who are about to face the college entrance exams.Adversity beliefs are an essential psychological protection resource for high school students today,and self-acceptance also enables individuals to maintain a positive attitude towards themselves.Through literature review,we found a significant relationship between self-acceptance and test anxiety,but previous studies have not confirmed the relationship between adversity beliefs and test anxiety and the mediating role of self-acceptance in it.Based on this,this study aimed to explore the effects of adversity beliefs on high school students’ test anxiety,to examine the mediating role of self-acceptance,and to conduct a self-acceptance group counseling intervention on this basis to provide new educational ideas for improving students’ self-acceptance levels and reducing test anxiety.This study is divided into two parts.In the first study,430 students from a high school in Wuhan were investigated by questionnaire,including test anxiety scale,Chinese Adversity Belief Scale and self-acceptance Scale,to explore the relationship between test anxiety,adversity belief and self-acceptance among high school students.In study 2,class group guidance intervention was used.Based on study 1,two homogeneous classes were randomly selected as the experimental group and the control group.The experimental group received six times of class group counseling centered on self-acceptance,while the control group received normal mental health education classes unrelated to intervention.The research results are as follows:(1)Two significant correlations between adversity beliefs and test anxiety and self-acceptance among high school students.(2)High school students’ adversity beliefs had a significant negative predictive effect on test anxiety;self-acceptance negatively predicted test anxiety;and adversity beliefs had a significant positive predictive effect on self-acceptance.(3)Self-acceptance plays a partial mediating role between adversity beliefs and test anxiety in high school students.(4)Self-acceptance class group guidance can promote the level of self-acceptance of high school students and relieve their exam anxiety.