Handbook of Stress and Academic Anxiety (eBook)

This handbook presents an overview of research on test anxiety and related forms of students' stress and anxiety at schools and other academic environments, and also brings together a series of psychological interventions to prevent and treat anxiety disorders related to academic assessments. Its aim is to inform about strategies that help promote more adaptive behaviors towards academic assessment, as well as discuss other variables (e.g., bullying) that influence test anxiety, a typical stressor at the school and academic environment. These stressors can impair the students' socio-cognitive development, impairing their ability to study and posing a risk to their mental health.

The volume is organized in three parts. The first part brings together chapters discussing different variables and processes associated with academic anxiety, such as test anxiety and social influence, academic motivation, bullying, and procrastination. The second part is completely dedicated to psychological interventions with students designed to promote adaptive coping strategies to deal with academic anxiety and to prevent the development of psychopathologies associated with it. These interventions are based on different approaches, such as cognitive behavioral therapy, acceptance and commitment therapy, analytic behavioral therapy, dialectical behavioral therapy, and mindfulness, among others. Finally, the third part presents strategies that teachers can adopt to manage academic anxiety.

The Handbook of Stress and Academic Anxiety: Psychological Processes and Interventions with Students and Teachers will be a valuable resource for school and clinical psychologists, teachers, school managers and policy makers by providing information based on the best scientific evidences to help students cope with academic anxiety, prevent the development of psychopathologies associated with it and promote mental health at schools and other academic environments.

Luiz Ricardo Vieira Gonzaga holds a PhD in psychology from the Pontifical Catholic University of Campinas, Brazil, and is certificated in Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy (REBT) - Primary level - by Albert Ellis Institute. He was awarded by Paulista Academy of Psychology for his doctorate thesis 'Coping with school tests: Relationships with behavior problems and academic performance in High School'. He was awarded at the 6th International Congress of Educational Sciences and Development (Portugal, 2018) and received a Honorable Mention at the 47th Annual Meeting of the Brazilian Psychological Society (SBP) with the theme 'assessment and coping with anxiety test'. He is associate member and certified by the Brazilian Federation of Cognitive Therapists.

Letícia Lovato Dellazzana Zanon is a professor of the Graduate Program in Psychology at Pontifical Catholic University of Campinas, Brazil, and vice-leader of the research group Psychology of Health and Development of Children and Adolescents. She holds a PhD in psychology from the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS), Brazil, and is a specialist in clinical psychology and in family and couple therapy. She is a member of the Positive Psychology and Creativity Assessment working group of the Brazilian National Psychology Research and Graduate Association (ANPEPP). She is a collaborator in the Laboratory of Psychology and Genetic Epistemology (LAPEGE / UFRGS). She is Associate Editor of the journal Psychology: Theory and Research (University of Brasília) and member of the Editorial Board of the journal Thinking Families. She works in the area of developmental psychology, with an emphasis on adolescent development and life projects.

Andressa Melina Becker da Silva is a professor of psychology and physical education at University of Sorocaba, Brazil. She holds a PhD in psychology from the Pontifical Catholic University of Campinas, Brazil. Is a leader of the Study and Research Group in Exercise, Sport and Health Psychology and a member of the research group Psychology of Health and Development of Children and Adolescents. She works in the area of developmental psychology, with an emphasis on adolescent development, health and sport psychology.