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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Psychol.
Sec. Health Psychology
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1550353
Nature-based Mind-body Intervention for Test Anxiety in Adolescents: A Feasibility Study
Provisionally accepted- 1 Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), Beijing, China
- 2 Department of Psychology, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
- 3 College of Liberal Arts & Sciences, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, United States
Traditional interventions for test anxiety often fall short of addressing the specific needs of adolescents and educational institutions due to issues of stigmatization and professionalization. In contrast, nature-based interventions (NBIs) have gained traction for their potential to enhance mental health, as they are generally accepted and cost-effective, thereby offering a promising alternative for alleviating test anxiety. This study seeks to investigate the feasibility of a nature-based mind-body intervention (NMI) designed to reduce test anxiety among adolescents by integrating elements of NBIs and mind-body therapies (MBTs). The findings suggest that NMI can significantly diminish excessive test anxiety and academic stress, along with alleviating symptoms of general anxiety and depression. This approach presents a low-stigma, low-cost strategy for managing test anxiety in adolescents and offers valuable insights for mental health policymakers. Furthermore, it may enhance academic performance and broaden educational access for disadvantaged populations in developing countries.
Keywords: Nature-based Mind-body Intervention, test anxiety, Adolescent, Anxiety, Depression
Received: 23 Dec 2024; Accepted: 24 Mar 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Zeng, Zhang, Chu and Chen. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
Tianyong Chen, Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), Beijing, China
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