Behavioral/psychoeducational group training in therapy for overtaxed men

Abstract

Stress is a common occupational hazard [1] for which a variety of coping strategies has been developed [2]. To see whether Vogel’s behavioral/psychoeducational group training [3] is an effective monotherapy for males suffering from occupational stress, we conducted an 8-week study in 2005. Outcome measures were a subjective reduction of stress and improvements in salivary cortisol, blood pressure, and health-related quality of life. Seventy-two patients were required; these were randomly divided between the behavioral/psychoeducational training group (BTG) and control group (CG) and were tested weekly with the Trier Inventory for the Assessment of Chronic Stress (TICS), State-Trait Anger Expression Inventory (STAXI), and Health Survey (SF-36). The subjects also measured their blood pressure and sampled their saliva for cortisol assessment 5 days per week. The BTG participated in 90-min group sessions twice weekly [3], where we motivated it to rethink its stress coping strategies and encourage behavioral change. The training highlighted bio-psychosocial connections, introduced approaches to changing coping strategies, and encouraged pharmacotherapy. The CG had no therapeutic interventions; the placebo intervention consisted of unstructured reports on current events at work in 90-min sessions twice weekly. Initial testing with the three questionnaires indicated relatively high stress and anger levels and a relatively low health-related quality of life. According to the intent-to-treat principle, applied with last observation carried forward, the repeated-measures analysis showed a significant interaction for the group-by-time effect