Reducing test anxiety may help prevent more severe problems, according to a recent study.

Researchers from the University of New Orleans suggest that showing students how to cope with test anxiety might also help them to handle their built-up angst and fretfulness about other issues.

Their study shows that anxiety intervention programs that focus on academic matters fit well into the demands of the school routine, and do not carry the same stigma among youth as general anxiety programs do.

"Test anxiety interventions may be a practical strategy for conducting emotion-focused prevention and intervention efforts because of a natural fit within the ecology of the school setting," researcher Carl Weems said in a statement.

Researchers said anxiety problems are among the most common emotional difficulties youths experience, and are often linked to exposure to disasters. These feelings could lead to academic difficulties, an increased risk of developing depressive or anxiety disorders, and substance use problems in adulthood if they are not addressed.

"It is, however, an issue that often falls under the radar in school settings. Therefore [we] turned [our] attention to teaching students how to handle test anxiety, as such nervousness is one way in which anxieties commonly manifest among school-aged youth," researchers said.

For the study, researchers gave 325 youth, between the ages of 8 and 17, who experienced elevated test anxiety a group-administered, test-anxiety-reduction intervention. The intervention - through which the learners were taught behavioral strategies such as relaxation techniques - was conducted as part of each school's counseling curriculum.

The research was conducted between three and six years after Hurricane Katrina struck in 2005.

Researchers found that the program was associated with decreases in test anxiety, anxiety disorder and depression symptoms, and especially helped the older students to feel more in control. In turn, decreases in test anxiety were linked with changes in symptoms of depression and anxiety, such as posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The results suggest high participant satisfaction with the program.

However, Weem said that school-based test anxiety interventions should not be considered a first line approach to treating severe anxiety disorders such as PTSD, but could be employed preventatively to teach students how to handle anxious emotions and internalizing problems more generally.

The findings were recently published in Prevention Science.