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Results of a Web-based Stress Management Training: A Randomised Controlled Pilot Study
Stockholm University, Faculty of Social Sciences, Department of Psychology, Work and organizational psychology.ORCID iD: 0000-0002-8213-1391
Stockholm University, Faculty of Social Sciences, Department of Psychology.
2018 (English)In: Book of Proceedings: 13th Conference of the European Academy of Occupational Health Psychology: Adapting to rapid changes in today’s workplace / [ed] Kevin Teoh, Nathalie Saade, Vlad Dediu, Juliet Hassard, Luis Torres, European Academy of Occupational Health Psychology, 2018, p. 414-414, article id P92Conference paper, Poster (with or without abstract) (Refereed)
Abstract [en]

With stress-related health problems being associated with costs for individuals, organisations and societies, prevention becomes an important means for the early targeting of such problems. In view of the many individuals experiencing stress, it seems valuable to develop easily accessible programs that allow individuals to develop their skills in how to think and act around various daily life stressors. Such programs can be delivered through internet by the use of computers or smart phones to individuals in their work-life settings, that is, within an organisation, or made available to any adult who would want to develop various ways of dealing with daily life stress. However, such programs need to be carefully evaluated. Previous findings suggest that stress-management programs delivered using information- and communication technological devices can reduce stress. This means that preventive efforts to reduce stress through information- and communication technology have the potential to reach many at a relatively low cost, and also have positive effects. The present pilot-study investigated the feasibility of a newly developed online stress management program and also investigated its effects on stress-related health outcomes in a convenience sample of working adults. Working adults were invited to the study (n=138) and were told that they would be randomised to one of two conditions: an intervention group (n=58) getting immediate access to the online program once they had completed an online questionnaire, or to a wait-list control group who was to get access to the online program once the study period had been completed. The online stress management program consisted of seven parts, with each estimated to take a week. Each part included sound-clips and film-clips along with exercises. All participants were asked to provide self-report data on stress and stress-related health complaints, including anxiety and symptoms of depression, along with demographics, at two points in time: 1) before getting access to the program and 2) after finalising the program. A time limit was set for access to the program. At the follow-up, participants in the intervention group (responders: n=25) were asked about factors hindering and facilitating their participation. Despite all individuals volunteering participation and signing up because they expressed an interest in stress management, the results showed poor adherence in the intervention group. This seemed partly related to technological solutions within the program versus participants’ user preferences. The analyses of self-ratings showed no statistically significant effect for any of the outcome measures. However, there was a significant effect showing that perceived stress and stress-related complaints decreased over time in both groups. This finding may relate to the relatively poor adherence in the intervention group, but may also result of few participants completing the follow-up. Additionally, seasonal variations in occupational stress and family life along with factors hindering and facilitating the use of leisure time to participate in a stress management program may be factors explaining the findings. Future studies should strive for improving adherence, for instance by delivering similar stress management programs during working hours within specific organisational settings.

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
European Academy of Occupational Health Psychology, 2018. p. 414-414, article id P92
Keywords [en]
stress, online program, unguided
National Category
Psychology
Research subject
Psychology
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:su:diva-160549ISBN: 978-0-9928786-4-1 (print)OAI: oai:DiVA.org:su-160549DiVA, id: diva2:1251700
Conference
13th European Academy of Occupational Health Psychology Conference 2018, Lisbon, Portugal, September 5-7, 2018
Note

This research was partially supported by Stockholm Stress Center, a FORTE center of excellence.

Available from: 2018-09-27 Created: 2018-09-27 Last updated: 2022-02-26Bibliographically approved

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Lindfors, Petra

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