Survey of emotional state in undergraduates under exam stress

    MA Hui1,2, YAN Jin2, WANG Zhiª²Hong2, LIU Taoª²Sheng2, LUO Yueª²Jia1

    1Key Laboratory of Mental Health, Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China, 2Department of Psychology, Second Military Medical University, Shanghai 200433, China

    ¡¾Abstract¡¿ AIM: To investigate the psychological state of undergraduates before College English Testª²4 (CETª²4) and to explore the relationship between emotion and exam stress. METHODS: Two hundred students completed the questionnaires Selfª²Rating Anxiety Scale (SAS), Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) and Eysenk Personality Questionnaire (EPQ) before exam, after exam and at nonª²exam time. RESULTS: Prior to exam, exam groups displayed higher anxiety and depression scores than control groups and the scores gradually declined after the exam. The undergraduates who had had more failure experiences showed higher anxiety and depression scores than those who had less failure. A negative correlation was found between the scores of anxiety or depression and E scores in EPQ, and a positive correlation was observed between the scores of anxiety or depression and N scores. CONCLUSION: CETª²4 is a common stress in college. Effective psychological intervention should be taken to alleviate the negative emotion, especially in students who have had more failure experiences from past exams and those who are introvert and neurotic. ......