Background
Test anxiety is one of the most stressful issues for students and is associated with negative effects. Test anxiety in the context of positive psychology has been largely unexplored.

Aims
Therefore, the aim of this study was to develop a new positive psychological intervention to reduce test anxiety. Based on the model of positive self-management (Braun et al., 2017), the study evaluated whether a live-online intervention could train the application of techniques of positive psychology in combination with further self-management competencies (goal clarity and self-reflection), increase mental strength (self-efficacy, resilience and emotion regulation) and reduce test anxiety.

Method
For this purpose, a study based on a 2x2 pre-post design with a randomized waiting control group was conducted. 85 students participated in the study. 77 participants were female, 76 were bachelor's degree students, and 73 were studying in the dual system. Standardized online questionnaires were used to operate self-management competencies, mental strength and test anxiety. Data analysis was based on variance analysis using a mixed ANOVA and t-tests.

Results
The training evaluation indicates significant interaction effects for the application of techniques of positive psychology (partial η² = .20), goal clarity (partial η² = .09), self-efficacy (partial η² = .12), resilience (partial η² = .15), emotion regulation (partial η² = .24), and test anxiety (partial η² = 20). The participants of the treatment group improved their self-management competencies – application of techniques of positive psychology (d = .84) and goal clarity (d = .56) – as well as their mental strength in total (d = .78) and reduced their test anxiety (d = -.80) two weeks after the intervention. No effects were found for self-reflection.

Conclusion
The intervention has shown to be of high effectivity. The strengths and potential of the intervention for the academic field and the extension of the self-management model will be discussed. Furthermore, limitations regarding the self-reflection variable, the methodology, the assessment of test anxiety and the sample will be considered.