A preliminary study of primary prevention of test anxiety among elementary school students: A phenomenological perspective

The present study assesses the face validity of a teacher‐implemented program for primary prevention of test anxiety among elementary school students, as evaluated by teachers and students alike. The program was based on cognitive behavior modfication principles and procedures and aimed at helping classroom students cope with evaluative school contexts. It is contended that “intervention checks” should be an intrinsic part of any primary prevention program. These intervention checks can be implemented via judgmental procedures designed to assess the validity of the program from the perspective of the major players in the intervention process, namely the teachers and their pupils. From this phenomenological perspective, the study results lend support to the feasibility of the program. Attention to this much‐neglected topic (i.e., face validity) is raised, and some research tools to be employed are also suggested, including the use of the mapping sentence technique.