Effects Of Stress And Stress Management On The Attention Of Students With High Trait Anxiety

The objectives of this study were to examine the effects of exam stress on the attention of students with different trait anxiety and test the effects of progressive muscular relaxation (PMR) and autogenetic training on the attention of students with high trait anxiety in order to supply references to stress management. The whole study is composed of two parts.Part 1 is the study on the effects of stress on the attention of students with different trait anxiety. In this part, the stressor used is College English Test-Band 4 (CET-4) and 10 students with high trait anxiety and 10 students with non-high trait anxiety were enrolled respectively in the high trait anxiety group (HG) and the non-high trait anxiety group (NHG) . The attention of the 20 students from the two group was measured by event related potentials respectively in control phase and stress phase. And the statistical analysis was conducted. Results show that the P300 amplitude and latency of the HG were not different from those of the NHG in control phase, but the P300 amplitude of the HG was lower than that of the NHG (P<0.05) and the P300 latency of the HGwas longer than that of the NHG (P<0.05) in stress phase, which suggests that exam stress had different effects on the stability and shift ability of attention of people with different trait anxiety. People with high trait anxiety are the key population for stress management.Part 2 is the study on the effects of stress management on the attention of students with high trait anxiety. In control phase, 30 students with high trait anxiety who would take part in the coming CET-4 were equally randomized into three groups: progressive muscular relaxation group (PMRG), autogenetic training group (ATG) and control group (CG). The attention of 15 (5/group*3group) students was measured by event related potentials respectively in control phase. After that, students of PMRGand ATG respectively practice progressive muscular relaxation and autogenetic training for 12 weeks. Students of CG went on without any manipulation. Then the attention of 30students was measured in stress phase. At last, the attention of other 15 students was measured in control phase and statistical analysis was conducted. Results show that changes of P300 amplitude and latency among PMRG, ATG and CG were different (P<0.05). In CG, P300 amplitude decreased and P300 latency prolonged;In PMRG and ATG, P300 amplitude increased and P300 latency shortened. These results suggest progressive muscular relaxation and autogenesis can both improve the stability and shift ability of attention of students with high trait anxiety under stress.