Stress Level Of People Research Articles

Intervention to Reduce Stress Levels in People with HIV/AIDS: Literature Review

Abstract
 
 People living with HIV/AIDS experience a variety of complex problems, not only physical problems related to the condition of HIV disease, but also psychosocial problems related to HIV disclosure, stigma, social isolation and discrimination that can cause anxiety and cause high stress levels.The conditions will gave the negative impact on both physical and mental health. The negative impact of stress can lead to depression, giving rise to an attitude of non-compliance with treatment, increased risk behavior for HIV transmission and faster disease progression, which in turn will worsen the quality of life for people living with HIV/AIDS. Several studies have been conducted to found appropriate interventions to reduce stress levels in people with HIV/AIDS. This article is a literature review of several interventions to reduce stress levels in people with HIV/AIDS, included Jacobson's Progressive Muscle Relaxation (JPMR), Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) and Reiki therapy. Literature search was carried out from databases such as Pubmed, EBSCOhost, Scopus, Proquest, Sciene Direct, with limited years of article publication in the last 10 years (2008-2018). Based on the review, it was found that Jacobson's Progressive Muscle Relaxation (JPMR) intervention; Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction, Reiki Therapy shows very significant results in decreasing stress levels in people with HIV conducted in three studies with different interventions.
 Keyword: Stress, HIV/AIDS, intervention

Stress level of people with psoriasis at a public hospital.

BackgroundPsoriasis is a chronic dermatosis of unknown etiology with a tendency to relapse after treatment. The disease is frequently linked to psychological stress due to the embarrassment caused by the lesions.ObjectiveTo analyze the stress level presented by psoriasis patients followed at the Dermatology Service of a public hospital in Salvador, Bahia state, Brazil.MethodsA cross-sectional study of a consecutive convenience sample composed of 60 participants. We used Lipp's Stress Symptoms Inventory for Adults to assess stress levels. The questionnaire identifies and classifies physical and psychological symptoms according to three stages of stress: alarming, resistance, and exhaustion. We also collected socio-demographic and clinical data that could be associated with psoriasis.Results85% of the participants presented stress. Lipp's questionnaire results revealed that 48% were in the resistance stage and 37% in the exhaustion stage. Women presented higher levels of stress. Of the total 28 women, 64% were in exhaustion stage, 29% in the resistance stage, and only 7% presented no stress symptoms. Of the total 32 men, 44% were in resistance stage, 34% in exhaustion stage, and 22% presented no stress symptoms. Regarding physical and psychological symptoms, psychological symptomatology was prevalent (55%).ConclusionsBased on the number of patients in exhaustion stage, we can conclude that stress levels of the participants were high regardless the type of psoriasis and treatment duration.

Diaphragmatic Breathing Reduces Exercise‐Induced Oxidative Stress

Diaphragmatic breathing is relaxing and therapeutic, reduces stress, and is a fundamental procedure of Pranayama Yoga, Zen, transcendental meditation and other meditation practices. Analysis of oxidative stress levels in people who meditate indicated that meditation correlates with lower oxidative stress levels, lower cortisol levels and higher melatonin levels. It is known that cortisol inhibits enzymes responsible for the antioxidant activity of cells and that melatonin is a strong antioxidant; therefore, in this study, we investigated the effects of diaphragmatic breathing on exercise-induced oxidative stress and the putative role of cortisol and melatonin hormones in this stress pathway. We monitored 16 athletes during an exhaustive training session. After the exercise, athletes were divided in two equivalent groups of eight subjects. Subjects of the studied group spent 1 h relaxing performing diaphragmatic breathing and concentrating on their breath in a quiet place. The other eight subjects, representing the control group, spent the same time sitting in an equivalent quite place. Results demonstrate that relaxation induced by diaphragmatic breathing increases the antioxidant defense status in athletes after exhaustive exercise. These effects correlate with the concomitant decrease in cortisol and the increase in melatonin. The consequence is a lower level of oxidative stress, which suggests that an appropriate diaphragmatic breathing could protect athletes from long-term adverse effects of free radicals.

The Impact of Stress on Different Leisure Dimensions

Can participation in different types of leisure activities help to reduce people's stress levels? This study investigated different dimensions of leisure activities in order to ascertain which ones best reduced people's stress levels. Data were obtained via mail from a sample of 252 Australians. Respondents were asked to indicate their choice of a leisure activity-first, uring times of stress and, second, during stress-free times. This study extracted eight major dimensions of leisure, and participation levels of the three groups were found to differ on these leisure dimensions. Overall. there was a general reduction in participation in leisure activities when stressed compared with stress-free situations. Three groups who had different leisure repertoires were also identified. It was found that individuals in these groups adjusted their leisure differently when under stress.

Measuring stress in the mildly intellectually handicapped: The factorial structure of the subjective stress scale

The Subjective Stress Scale (SSS) was developed by Bramston and Bostock (1994) to provide a sensitive measure of stress for people with intellectual disabilities. This study examined the underlying structure of the SSS by analysing responses of 221 intellectually disabled people to the questionnaire. Exploratory factor analysis of the interitem correlation matrix yielded at least three solutions that were quite interpretable: a one-factor, a two-factor, and a four-factor solution. Factors in all three solutions bore a strong resemblance to stress dimensions reported for the general population using other stress measures. The results suggest that although the actual stressors vary, persons with mild intellectual disability are affected by the same major stress dimensions as the general population. The results also suggest that the SSS can be used as a much needed measure of subjective stress levels in people with mild intellectual disabilities.

The Measurement of Stress in People with an Intellectual Disability: A Pilot Study

This research investigates the feasibility of assessing the self‐perceived stress levels of people with mild intellectual disabilities by self‐report. People with intellectual disabilities generally find it difficult to complete commonly used self‐report checklists when they are administered in the prescribed manner because of unfamiliarity with both the language and the paper and pencil format. A measure of daily stressors was therefore adapted to a standardized interview format and administered to 28 people with mild intellectual disabilities on five consecutive days. The interview format using standardized questions enabled all participants to complete the questionnaire. The use of follow‐up clarifying prompts by the interviewers ensured that the participants understood the questions and gave responses that they could support with explanations or examples. The data appeared to have reasonable levels of internal consistency. On average, each person experienced seven stressful events per day which they g...