Abstract

The aim of this study is to compare the effect of group music therapy practices on test anxiety and the effectiveness of the music lesson taught in accordance with the united annual lesson plan in high school seniors who are preparing for the university entrance exam. Two months before the exam, 49 students studying in the last year of Osmangazi Anatolian High School in Afyonkarahisar province in the 2022-2023 academic years participated in the research. Students were randomly assigned to “Music Therapy” and “Music Lesson” groups. The music therapy group was included in the group music therapy process for 8 weeks, while the music lesson group took only the elective music course in the curriculum. “Westside Exam Anxiety Scale” was used as a data collection tool in the study, and comparisons between groups were made with independent sample t-test, chi-square analysis and factorial mixed design analysis of variance methods. In addition, semi-structured interviews were conducted with the students and the effect of the music therapy sessions was evaluated with the opinions of the participants. In conclusion; it has been observed that students can control their test anxiety through music therapy practices and strengthen their internal audit-based motivation by developing a foresight through affirmation. Moreover; it was stated by the students in the therapy group that peer interaction, music culture and music-based expression skills improved, and that music therapy sessions had a positive effect on them. It was determined that the students in the Music Lesson group experienced a certain increase in their anxiety levels with the approaching of the exam date, and it was difficult for the students to make sense of the music lesson outputs for the curriculum. In this study, it was determined that goal-oriented music therapy practices performed in the school environment were effective in reducing test anxiety. It is thought that the results of the study will contribute to the national and international literature.

Keywords: Music therapy, Group music therapy, Test anxiety, Westside Test Anxiety Scale

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Copyright © 2025 The Author(s). This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

How to cite

Sağırkaya, B., & Torun, Ş. (2025). Effectiveness of group music therapy in reducing exam anxiety in high school senior students. Education and Science, 1-19. https://doi.org/10.15390/ES.2025.2580