The Tapping Evidence Base
Test Anxiety & Students

Is Emotional Freedom Techniques Generalizable? Comparing Effects in Sport Science Students Vs. Complementary Therapy Students

Boath, E., Stewart, A., Carryer, A. · Energy Psychology Journal · 2013

Controlled trial⚖️ vs. cross-cohort comparisonPreliminary✓ Source-checked📍 United Kingdom
In plain English. Researchers tested whether EFT for presentation anxiety works the same way across very different groups of students - younger sport science students, mostly male, and older complementary therapy students, all female. It did: both groups saw significant drops in anxiety, suggesting the effect isn't limited to any one type of student. This strengthens confidence that earlier positive EFT-for-presentation-anxiety findings weren't a fluke of one particular group.

What they found

The study found a statistically significant reduction in anxiety for both cohorts of students, as well as a clinically significant reduction in anxiety for the sports science students, regardless of age or gender.

How the study worked

Who took partsport science students (younger, predominantly male) vs. complementary therapy students (all female, older)
What they didIn a controlled trial, a tapping group was compared against a separate comparison group.
Compared withcross-cohort comparison
Measured withpresentation anxiety

💡 Where this could help

If findings like these hold up in larger trials, the promise is simple: a low-cost, self-administered tool that could reach people struggling with test anxiety & students who can't easily access traditional care — at home, between appointments, or where there aren't enough clinicians to go around.

🔬 What to study next

The natural next step: longer-term follow-up to see how durable the benefit is, and an active ('sham tapping') control to isolate what's doing the work.

The full record

DesignControlled trial
Populationsport science students (younger, predominantly male) vs. complementary therapy students (all female, older)
Comparison groupcross-cohort comparison
Outcome measurespresentation anxiety
JournalEnergy Psychology Journal
Year2013
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish
MethodEFT / tapping
Publication typeStudy / trial
Verification✓ Confirmed against the primary source
Verification note. Author order/spelling in the primary reprint appears as 'Boath, Carryer, Steward' rather than this record's 'Boath, Stewart, Carryer' — a likely minor transcription variant (Steward/Stewart), not corrected here since it is not a number, but flagged for editorial awareness.

Read the original study →

Cite this study

APA

Boath, E., Stewart, A., & Carryer, A. (2013). Is Emotional Freedom Techniques Generalizable? Comparing Effects in Sport Science Students Vs. Complementary Therapy Students. Energy Psychology Journal. https://doi.org/10.9769.EPJ.2013.5.5.EB.AC.as.su

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THE TAPPING EVIDENCE BASE Test Anxiety & Students ✓ Controlled trial WHAT THEY FOUND The study found a statistically significantreduction in anxiety for both cohorts ofstudents, as well as a… Controlled trial Boath · 2013 · evidence.thetappingsolution.com