Stress management intervention to enhance adolescent resilience: a randomized controlled trial

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of an 8-week stress management intervention to enhance resilience and coping techniques and decrease stress in adolescent students. Teenagers, 11 to 17 years old, recruited from two tertiary Adolescent Medicine Centers of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Greece, were randomly assigned into two groups: the stress management group (n=24) and the control group (n=25). Resilience, stress, anxiety, everyday use of social media, school performance and cognitive skills were measured in adolescents of both groups, pre- and post-intervention. Post-intervention, the stress management group had significantly higher resilience scores and school performance self-evaluation scores, lower scores of stress, anxiety and everyday use of social media and better cognitive skills than the control group. Regarding cognitive skills, the stress management group significantly improved the speed of information processing and memory. Adolescents following stress management experienced significantly reduced stress from interacting with teachers/parents, from peer pressure, from school/leisure conflict as well as compulsive behaviours. With respect to resilience, the intervention improved adolescents’ individual skills and resources, relationships with primary caregivers, and environmental factors that facilitated the sense of belonging. Future studies of large adolescent samples are required to evaluate the long-term benefits of stress management techniques on adolescents' health and resilience, as well as the need of continued support to preserve these benefits throughout transition to adulthood.

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Effects of two types of smartphone-based stress management programmes on depressive and anxiety symptoms among hospital nurses in Vietnam: a protocol for three-arm randomised controlled trial

BMJ Open ◽

10.1136/bmjopen-2018-025138 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 9 (4) ◽

pp. e025138 ◽

Cited By ~ 6

Author(s):

Kotaro Imamura ◽

Thuy Thi Thu Tran ◽

Huong Thanh Nguyen ◽

Kazuto Kuribayashi ◽

Asuka Sakuraya ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Stress Management ◽

Free Choice ◽

Controlled Trial ◽

Intervention Group ◽

Anxiety Symptoms ◽

Control Group ◽

Hospital Nurses ◽

Management Intervention ◽

Stress Management Intervention ◽

Randomised Controlled

IntroductionDue to an increasing demand for healthcare in low-income and middle-income countries in Asia, it is important to develop a strategy to manage work-related stress in healthcare settings, particularly among nurses in these countries. The purpose of this three-arm randomised controlled trial (RCT) is to examine the effects of a newly developed smartphone-based multimodule stress management programme on reducing severity of depressive and anxiety symptoms as primary outcomes at 3-month and 7-month follow-ups among hospital nurses in Vietnam.Methods and analysisThe target study population will be registered nurses working in a large general hospital (which employs approximately about 2000 nurses) in Vietnam. They will be invited to participate in this study. Participants who fulfil the eligibility criteria will be randomly allocated to the free-choice, multimodule stress management (intervention group A, n=360), the internet cognitive behavioural therapy (iCBT), that is, fixed-order stress management (intervention group B, n=360), or a treatment as usual control group (n=360). Two types (free-choice and fixed sequential order) of smartphone-based six-module stress management programmes will be developed. Participants in the intervention groups will be required to complete one of the programmes within 10 weeks after the baseline survey. The primary outcomes are depressive and anxiety symptoms, measured by using the Depression Anxiety and Stress Scales (DASS) at 3-month and 7 month follow-ups.Ethics and disseminationThe study procedures have been approved by the Research Ethics Review Board of Graduate School of Medicine/Faculty of Medicine, the University of Tokyo (no 11991) and the Ethical Review Board for Biomedical Research of Hanoi University of Public Health (no 346/2018/YTCC-HD3). If a significant effect of the intervention programmes will be found in the RCT, the programmes will be made available to all nurses in the hospital including the control group. If the positive effects are found in this RCT, the e-stress management programmes will be disseminated to all nurses in Vietnam.Trial registration numberUMIN000033139; Pre-results.

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Stress Management Intervention: A Pilot Evaluation in an Urban Adolescent Medicine Clinic

Clinical Pediatrics ◽

10.1177/0009922817733704 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 57 (6) ◽

pp. 700-705 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Kimberly Burkhart ◽

Elizabeth Mason ◽

Rina Lazebnik

Keyword(s):

Stress Management ◽

Internalizing Symptoms ◽

The Body ◽

Progressive Muscle Relaxation ◽

Adolescent Medicine ◽

Post Intervention ◽

Management Intervention ◽

Medicine Clinic ◽

Time Stress ◽

Stress Management Intervention

Thirty patients aged 11 to 21 years presenting in an adolescent medicine clinic received a one-time stress management intervention. The intervention included psychoeducation on the effect stress has on the body and the positive benefits of exercise, diaphragmatic breathing, and progressive muscle relaxation. The intervention also included use of a biofeedback game to aid in relaxation. Analyses revealed an association between higher levels of internalizing symptoms and perceived stress. A clinically significant decrease in subjective distress was endorsed at post-intervention. Ninety-three percent of participants reported that the intervention was helpful and that they had the requisite knowledge to practice stress management strategies outside of the clinic. At a one-week follow-up, of the 23 participants who were able to be reached, 22 wanted to participate in additional training. Findings suggest that a one-time stress management intervention can be beneficial for patients and easily incorporated within a primary care setting.

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Pilot testing an app-based stress management intervention for cancer survivors

Translational Behavioral Medicine ◽

10.1093/tbm/ibz062 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 10 (3) ◽

pp. 770-780 ◽

Cited By ~ 5

Author(s):

Elin Børøsund ◽

Cecilie Varsi ◽

Matthew M Clark ◽

Shawna L Ehlers ◽

Michael A Andrykowski ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Cancer Survivors ◽

Stress Management ◽

Depression Scale ◽

Well Being ◽

Management Tool ◽

Anxiety And Depression ◽

Post Intervention ◽

Management Intervention ◽

Stress Management Intervention ◽

Management Interventions

Abstract Psychosocial eHealth intervention programs for cancer survivors are still in their infancy, with inconsistent findings so far in the scientific literature. The aim of this study was to explore system use, usefulness, ease of use, and preliminary effects of Stress Proffen, an app-based cognitive-behavioral stress management intervention for patients with cancer. A feasibility pilot project tested the intervention with cancer survivors (N = 25). The intervention contained (a) one face-to-face introduction session, (b) 10 app-based modules with stress management educational material and exercises, and (c) one follow-up phone call. Post-intervention interviews were conducted and user log-data were extracted. Outcome measures—Perceived Stress Scale (PSS), Anxiety and Depression (Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale [HADS]), Health-Related Quality of Life (HRQoL; SF-36), and Self-Regulatory Fatigue (SRF-18)—were completed at baseline and post-intervention. Participants were primarily women (84%), age 34–71 (mean 48) and represented a variety of cancer diagnoses (majority breast cancer: 40%). Twenty-two participants completed all (pre–post) questionnaires. Sixteen participants (67%) completed at least 7 of 10 modules within the 8-week study period. Post-intervention interviews described StressProffen as providing a new, appreciated, and easily accessible stress management tool for the cancer survivors. Dependent/paired t-tests showed significant pre–post intervention effects with significant decrease in stress (p = .008), anxiety (p = .019), and self-regulatory fatigue (p = .025), and improved HRQoL (Role Physical, General Health, Vitality, and Role Emotional, all p’s <.01). App-based stress management interventions such as StressProffen can provide appreciated support for cancer survivors, should be easy to use, can provide significant stress reduction, and improve emotional well-being. Further testing in a randomized controlled trial is warranted and is in progress. Clinicaltrials.gov: NCT0293961.

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