Emotional Freedom Techniques (EFT) for Stress in Students: A Randomized Controlled Dismantling Study

Dismantling study👥 56 participants⚖️ vs. sham acupressure (non-meridian points)Moderate rigor✓ Source-checked📍 United States

In plain English. University students under stress were randomly split: one group tapped real acupressure points, the other tapped points that aren't part of the meridian system. The real-tapping group's stress dropped by about 39%, versus about 8% for the sham group — nearly five times the improvement, and the difference was a real effect, unlikely to be chance. Because both groups did the same ritual and only the tap locations differed, this points to the specific points mattering, not just the act of tapping.

What they found

people took part

56 university students randomized to EFT (n=26) or sham acupressure (n=30) showed a 39.3% reduction in stress symptoms in the EFT group versus 8.1% in the sham group (p < .001).

How the study worked

Who took partuniversity students (n=56)

What they didThis dismantling study compared standard tapping against a modified version to test which components matter.

Compared withsham acupressure (non-meridian points)

Measured withself-reported stress symptoms

💡 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 stress & cortisol 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

Design	Dismantling study
Participants	56 people
Population	university students
Comparison group	sham acupressure (non-meridian points)
Outcome measures	self-reported stress symptoms
Journal	Energy Psychology: Theory, Research, and Treatment
Year	2015
Country	United States
Language	English
Method	EFT / tapping
Publication type	Study / trial
Verification	✓ Confirmed against the primary source

Read the original study →

Cite this study

APA

Rogers, R., & Sears, S. (2015). Emotional Freedom Techniques (EFT) for Stress in Students: A Randomized Controlled Dismantling Study. Energy Psychology: Theory, Research, and Treatment. https://doi.org/10.9769/EPJ.2015.11.1.RR

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 Stress & Cortisol · How It Works (Biology)