The Tapping Evidence Base
Test Anxiety & Students · Phobias

Breathing therapy and emotional freedom techniques on public speaking anxiety in Turkish nursing students: A randomized controlled study

Dincer, B., Kumral Özçelik, S., Özer, Z., Bahçecik, N. · Explore · 2020

Randomized trial👥 76 participants⚖️ vs. breathing therapyModerate rigor✓ Source-checked📍 Turkey
In plain English. 76 nursing students in Turkey who got nervous about public speaking were split into a tapping group and a breathing-exercise group. Both approaches lowered their anxiety before a speaking task, but the tapping group did somewhat better than the breathing group. The exact numbers behind "more effective" weren't available to double-check, so treat that specific comparison as a secondhand summary of the published findings.

What they found

76
people took part

Both breathing therapy and EFT groups showed comparable pre-intervention anxiety scores; SUDS, STAI, and speech anxiety scores significantly decreased in both groups after the intervention, with EFT reported as more effective than breathing therapy for public speaking anxiety.

How the study worked

Who took partNursing students at Istanbul Medeniyet University with public speaking anxiety (n=76)
What they didIn a randomized controlled trial, participants were randomly assigned to receive tapping or a comparison condition, then measured and compared.
Compared withbreathing therapy
Measured withSubjective Units of Disturbance Scale (SUDS), State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI), Speech Anxiety Scale

💡 Where this could help

If tapping's edge over breathing exercises here holds up in bigger trials, picture a nursing student, or anyone facing a presentation that terrifies them, self-administering a free, quick tool in the hallway right before walking into the room, no instructor or coach needed in the moment. That kind of low-cost, on-the-spot option could matter most for students and workers whose careers hinge on presentations they dread.

🔬 What to study next

As with the related 2022 trial from this team, the next step is measuring what's happening physiologically during an actual speech — heart rate or cortisol — rather than only before it, and testing whether the edge over breathing therapy holds up months later before a real high-stakes talk. Scaled classroom or app-based delivery would also show whether this benefit could reach students beyond a single controlled study.

The full record

DesignRandomized trial
Participants76 people
PopulationNursing students at Istanbul Medeniyet University with public speaking anxiety
Comparison groupbreathing therapy
Outcome measuresSubjective Units of Disturbance Scale (SUDS), State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI), Speech Anxiety Scale
JournalExplore
Year2020
CountryTurkey
LanguageEnglish
MethodEFT / tapping
Publication typeStudy / trial
Verification✓ Confirmed against the primary source

Read the original study →

Cite this study

APA

Dincer, B., Kumral Özçelik, S., Özer, Z., & Bahçecik, N. (2020). Breathing therapy and emotional freedom techniques on public speaking anxiety in Turkish nursing students: A randomized controlled study. Explore. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.explore.2020.11.006

This record is part of the Tapping Evidence Base — an openly-sourced, fully-referenced directory of the research on EFT/tapping. Explore more studies on Test Anxiety & Students · Phobias

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THE TAPPING EVIDENCE BASE Test Anxiety & Students 76 participants WHAT THEY FOUND Both breathing therapy and EFT groups showedcomparable pre-intervention anxiety scores;SUDS, STAI, and speech… Randomized trial · 76 participants Dincer · 2020 · evidence.thetappingsolution.com