In collaboration with Payame Noor University and Iran Educational Psychology Association

Document Type : Research

Authors

1 PhD Student in Educational Psychology, Shahid Chamran University of Ahvaz, Ahvaz, Iran

2 Associate Professor, Department of Psychology and Educational Sciences, Shahid Chamran University of Ahvaz, Ahvaz, Iran

3 Professor, Department of Psychology and Educational Sciences,Shahid Chamran University of Ahvaz, Ahvaz, Iran

Abstract

This research aimed to determine the effect of mandala coloring on working memory and test anxiety in grade 12 female high school students in Ahvaz City, Iran. This was an experimental study with Semi-experimental type of unequal control group, and a one-month follow-up. The statistical population included all grade 12 female high school students in Ahvaz. The study sample selected using cluster sampling based on the inclusion and exclusion criteria. For this purpose, one education district selected first and all grade 12 students in this school took the GHQ-28 screening test. Thirty of those scoring above the cut-off point randomly assigned to the experimental and control groups (15 students in each group). Both groups evaluated in the pretest, posttest, and follow-up stages using the Wechsler Memory Scale, which includes the digit span test (Wechsler, 2009), and Friedman Test Anxiety Scale (Friedman, 1997). The experimental group attended eleven 45-minute sessions of coloring mandalas, but the control group received no intervention program. The data analyzed using repeated measures MANOVA in SPSS23. The results indicated that mandala coloring was effective in increase working memory  and reducing test anxiety in students in the posttest stage, and its effects remained stable in the follow-up stage (P<0.05). Based on the findings of the research, mandala coloring can be used to increase working memory and reduce test anxiety in female high school students, and it can also employed by counselors and psychologists

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