Terms Of Stress Reduction Research Articles

Video Game to Attenuate Pandemic-Related Stress From an Equity Lens: Development and Usability Study.

BackgroundThe emergence of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) has introduced additional pressures on an already fragile mental health care system due to a significant rise in depression, anxiety, and stress among Canadians. Although cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is known to be an efficacious treatment to reduce such mental health issues, few people have access to CBT in an engaging and sustainable manner. To address this gap, a collaboration between the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) and the National Research Council of Canada (NRC) developed CBT-based self-led, online, clinician-tested modules in the form of a video game, named Legend of Evelys, and evaluated its usability in the attenuation of a COVID-19–related increase in stress.ObjectiveWe here present the conceptualization and design of new self-care modules in the form of a video game, its implementation in a technological infrastructure, and inclusivity and privacy considerations that informed the development. A usability study of the modules was performed to assess the video game’s usability, user engagement, and user perceptions.MethodsThe development of the video game involved establishment of a technology infrastructure for secure implementation of the software for the modules and a clinician-led assessment of the clinical utility of these modules through two “whiteboard” sessions. The usability study was informed by a mixed methods sequential explanatory design to evaluate the intervention of the mobile app through two distinct phases: quantitative data collection using in-app analytics data and two surveys, followed by qualitative data collection by semistructured interviews.ResultsA total of 32 participants trialed the app for 2 weeks. They used the video game an average of six times and rated the game as “good” based on the Systems Usability Scale score. In terms of stress reduction, the study demonstrated a significant difference in the participants’ Perceived Stress Scale score at baseline (mean 22.14, SD 6.187) compared with that at the 2-week follow-up (mean 18.04, SD 6.083; t27=3.628, P=.001). Qualitative interviews helped participants identify numerous functionality issues and provided specific recommendations, most of which were successfully integrated into the video game for future release.ConclusionsThrough this collaboration, we have established that it is possible to incorporate CBT exercises into a video game and have these exercises adopted to address stress. While video games are a promising strategy to help people with their stress and anxiety, there is a further need to examine the real-world effectiveness of the Legend of Evelys in reducing anxiety.

Effectiveness of embodied conversational agents for managing academic stress at an Indian University (ARU) during COVID‐19

AbstractStress has become one of the major reasons for many mental health related issues among students of all age groups, which has resulted in devastating personal losses including suicide. Societal and familial pressure to succeed is high, particularly in developing countries where education is highly valued as a key enabler. As part of stress management during the COVID‐19 pandemic, demand for online intelligent virtual advisors has risen and, consequently, the need for personalised explanation that is culturally sensitive to the user's context is essential to improve the user's understanding of and trust in the recommendations provided by the virtual advisor. This paper presents the mAnaging stRess at University embodied conversational agent (ECA) that has been adapted for Indian university students from an explainable agent that was found to help Western students reduce their stress by providing study tips with explanations based on the student's beliefs and/or goals. We conducted a research study with sixty students which measured the impact of providing three different patterns of tailored explanations (belief‐based, goal‐based, and belief and goal‐based explanation) on the students' intentions to change the recommended behaviours and the relationship built with the ECA. The experimental results indicate that there was stress reduction across all student groups provided with different types of explanations. Further, the students showed trust and a good working alliance with the conversational agent, along with an intention to change behaviour across all types of explanations. However, it was observed that the user context played an important role in behaviour change intention and hence explanations could be tailored further, making them culturally more relevant to Indian students. Practitioner notesWhat is already known about this topic Embodied conversational agents (ECAs) have been mostly developed, applied and shown to be effective in developed countries. Hence, their design and development are mostly guided by the intended user's needs and preferences. In a Western context, ECAs have been found to be beneficial for reducing study stress in university students. There is a pertinent need for use of low cost, effective technology that can aid academic stress reduction in higher educational institutions in developing countries owing to their high youth populations, lack of adequate mental healthcare facilities and associated social stigma. What this paper adds The adaptation and use of ECAs to reduce study stress in higher education students in a developing country is evaluated. The ECA technology is adapted for an Indian context in terms of its physical appearance, colour, speech dialect and dialog content so that it is culturally more aligned to the target population. The ECA engages in an empathic conversation tailored for the Indian students and their COVID‐19 context providing them with explanation‐backed behaviour recommendations that take their beliefs and goals into account. The ECA provides three types of explanation: belief‐only; goal‐only; and both belief and goal. Results of a study carried out in an Indian university with 61 students, randomly assigned to one of the explanation types, to capture their demographics, study stress statistics, behaviour change intentions and trust/working alliance with the conversational agent. The major findings include stress reduction across all explanation groups, development of a positive relationship between the ECA and the students regardless of its explanation pattern, and changes in behaviour intentions across all types of explanations for all recommended behaviours. However, differences in change intentions for certain behaviours indicate further tailoring of explanations is required based on the user context. Implications for practice and/or policy The ECA technology has shown promise in terms of stress reduction amongst Indian students. Higher Education Institutions in developing countries could utilise low‐cost and widely accessible ECAs to overcome lack of access to human‐based support and reluctance to use available services due to stigmatized attitudes to mental health issues. This technology can be further improved and deployed into a larger number of Indian educational institutions leading to a widespread impact on overall student health and wellbeing. Digital technologies to support mental health have become more prominent during the COVID‐19 pandemic, at least in Western countries. The ECA technology evaluated in our study demonstrates its viability and potential value for use in developing countries, with appropriate tailoring.

The Effects of Different Natural Environment Influences on Health and Psychological Well-Being of People: A Case Study in Selangor

Background: People benefit from the recreational services provided by an urban corridor, urban park, and urban forest. Due to ongoing land-use interest and urban development, however, these natural environments are coming under increasing pressure. Simultaneously, the world is becoming increasingly urbanised, and living in cities has been linked to mental health issues. On the other hand, different natural environments are known to create healthier environments, and the need for effective restorative environments has never been greater. The purpose of the study was to compare the impacts of walking in different natural environments. Methods: I) Kota Damansara Community Forest Reserve, II) Mutiara Damansara Recreational Park, and III) the Urban Green Corridor along Jalan PJU 7/2 were used as control study sites in this study. Each site was visited only once by the study participants (40 women and 40 men). Walking for 30 min was a part of the experiment. To identify the psychological effects of different natural environments, the Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scale (DASS21), Profile of Mood States (POMS), Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS), and Restoration Outcome Scale (ROS) were utilised. Results: In all three natural environments, the restorative effects were found to increase significantly. Conclusion: The overall conclusion of the field experiment is that being in an urban green corridor can also provide a refreshing environment. In terms of stress reduction among working adults, the recreational park is sufficient, while urban-forested areas are more effective in improving mental health by minimising stress, anxiety, and depression.

Enhancing Biophilia as a Restorative Design Approach in Egyptian Gardens

The increasing challenges of enhancing public health for communities and managing stressful daily life style raised the call for finding new methods to reduce stress. The research problem is the lack of sufficient data investigating the impact of different characteristics and forms of gardens in terms of stress reduction and restoration benefits. Therefore, the aim of this study is identifying the restorative effects of biophilic design elements in Egyptian gardens. It investigates the main indicators for applying biophilic urbanism in different gardens and how to enhance it to achieve stress restoration for communities. The presented study followed a methodology that comprises three parts. First an integrative literature review for biophilic urbanism and biophilia application to achieve restorative design. Then identifying the likely relationship between biophilia and restorativeness. Finally, a case study research design approach for selected Egyptian gardens which are analysed in reference to concluded relationship and perceived restorativenss. The work points out the potential and effective incorporation of applying biophilic principles in Egypt to achieve stress restoration.

Distraction-focused interventions on examination stress in nursing students: Effects on psychological stress and biomarker levels. A randomized controlled trial.

Nursing students all over the world experience high levels of stress with negative impacts on their health, emotional state and performance. This study aimed to investigate the effects of distraction-focused interventions on examination stress and anxiety in nursing students. A randomized controlled, parallel trial design was conducted from January to June 2016. After baseline measurement, 72 participants were randomized to one of the following groups (n = 18 each): (i) animal-assisted therapy; (ii) music therapy; (iii) mandala painting; (iv) control group. Outcomes of all groups in terms of stress-reduction were compared by measuring self-reported perceived stress (STAI-State and visual analogue stress scale) and salivary biomarker levels (Cortisol and Immunoglobulin A). Fifty-seven complete data sets (n = 12-16 for each group) were analysed. All distraction-focused interventions showed stress and anxiety reduction in everyday school situations. By contrast, on days with examinations, stress reductions did not reach statistical significance in regard to self-reported psychological stress. At the same time, interventions resulted in significantly decreased levels of stress biomarkers (P < .001). Our preliminary findings suggest positive but situation-dependent effects of distraction-focused interventions in academic settings. Further research should investigate the complex relationship between physiological and psychological stress parameters.

Flat prestressed unbonded retrofit system for strengthening of existing metallic I-Girders

In this study, a novel retrofitting system is developed to strengthen existing metallic I-girders using prestressed unbonded carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP) plates. The system relies on a pair of mechanical clamps. Each clamp holds two CFRP plates (each having cross-sectional dimensions of 50 × 1.4 mm) and anchors their prestressing forces to a metallic I-girder via friction. A finite element (FE) model was established to optimize the design of the required mechanical components, and a set of pull-off tests was performed to evaluate the capacity of the optimized system. The proposed flat prestressed unbonded retrofit (FPUR) system was then applied on a 6.4-m-long steel I-beam, and the excellent performance of the system, in terms of stress reduction in the beam bottom flange, was confirmed based on the results of a set of static four-point bending tests. Moreover, a fatigue four-point bending test was conducted on the steel I-beam, strengthened using the proposed FPUR system with a prestressing level of 53% (i.e., approximately 1120 MPa prestress in the CFRPs). Experimental results of the high-cycle fatigue test confirmed the excellent fatigue performance of the proposed FPUR system, as no prestress loss was observed after 20 million fatigue cycles. An analytical model is proposed to accurately predict the stress state in an I-girder strengthened with the proposed FPUR system, while design recommendations are provided concerning the practical use of the system. Relying on the laboratory experimental test results, the proposed FPUR system was used to strengthen the metallic cross-girders of a 121-year-old bridge in Australia.

Magic Moments: Determinants of Stress Relief and Subjective Wellbeing from Visiting a Cultural Heritage Site.

We provide an experimental evaluation of the impact of aesthetic experiences in terms of stress reduction (cortisol levels) and wellbeing increase. The test experience is a visit to the vault of the Sanctuary of Vicoforte, Italy. Data have been collected using a double step method. A structured interview in relation to the individual subjective well-being has been administered to a sample of 100 subjects. In addition, a sample of their saliva has been taken, and its cortisol level measured, before and after the experience, and likewise for momentary wellbeing measured on a Visual Analogous Scale. Subjects reported an average increase of 40% in wellbeing and a decrease of the 60% in the cortisol level. The recorded cortisol level values dropped on average well beyond the decrease normally associated to its circadian cycle. The modulating role of various variables has been appreciated, and profiling of the typical subjects who are wellbeing respondents/non-respondents and cortisol respondents/non-respondents has been carried out. We conclude that aesthetic experience seems to have a noticeable impact on individual physical and mental health. In both dominions, cultural participation intensity is significantly correlated to the response. The study underlines the potential of the arts and culture as a new platform for public health practices and new approaches to welfare policy design.

Efficacy of Self-Management Techniques in Reducing Perceived Occupational Stress among Nursing Staff

Occupational stress is one of the major health hazards of the modem work place. Similarly stressful working condition have been linked to low efficacy, absenteeism and increased rates of accidents on and off the job. Therefore, present study was designed to see the efficacy of self-management techniques as intervention in reducing the level of perceived stress among nursing staff sample comprised of 40 high stress nursing staff (20 male & 20 female) with the mean age 23.6 from S.M.S. hospital of Jaipur city of Rajasthan. Psychosocial stress questionnaire by Srivastava and Singh (1991) and occupational stress index by Srivastava and Singh (1994) were administered. Pre and post-test design was employed to find out the significant differences between the mean score on perceived stress after introducing intervention program. Results revealed that main effects of groups, gender and treatment have turned out to be significant. Further joint effect of groups and treatment have yielded significant there by depicting the remarkable improvement of experimental groups from pre and post-test over control group in terms of stress reduction due to introducing Self-management techniques as intervention program.

The Benefit of Web- and Computer-Based Interventions for Stress: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

BackgroundStress has been identified as one of the major public health issues in this century. New technologies offer opportunities to provide effective psychological interventions on a large scale.ObjectiveThe aim of this study is to investigate the efficacy of Web- and computer-based stress-management interventions in adults relative to a control group.MethodsA meta-analysis was performed, including 26 comparisons (n=4226). Cohen d was calculated for the primary outcome level of stress to determine the difference between the intervention and control groups at posttest. Analyses of the effect on depression, anxiety, and stress in the following subgroups were also conducted: risk of bias, theoretical basis, guidance, and length of the intervention. Available follow-up data (1-3 months, 4-6 months) were assessed for the primary outcome stress.ResultsThe overall mean effect size for stress at posttest was Cohen d=0.43 (95% CI 0.31-0.54). Significant, small effects were found for depression (Cohen d=0.34, 95% CI 0.21-0.48) and anxiety (Cohen d=0.32, 95% CI 0.17-0.47). Subgroup analyses revealed that guided interventions (Cohen d=0.64, 95% CI 0.50-0.79) were more effective than unguided interventions (Cohen d=0.33, 95% CI 0.20-0.46; P=.002). With regard to the length of the intervention, short interventions (≤4 weeks) showed a small effect size (Cohen d=0.33, 95% CI 0.22-0.44) and medium-long interventions (5-8 weeks) were moderately effective (Cohen d=0.59; 95% CI 0.45-0.74), whereas long interventions (≥9 weeks) produced a nonsignificant effect (Cohen d=0.21, 95% CI –0.05 to 0.47; P=.006). In terms of treatment type, interventions based on cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) and third-wave CBT (TWC) showed small-to-moderate effect sizes (CBT: Cohen d=0.40, 95% CI 0.19-0.61; TWC: Cohen d=0.53, 95% CI 0.35-0.71), and alternative interventions produced a small effect size (Cohen d=0.24, 95% CI 0.12-0.36; P=.03). Early evidence on follow-up data indicates that Web- and computer-based stress-management interventions can sustain their effects in terms of stress reduction in a small-to-moderate range up to 6 months.ConclusionsThese results provide evidence that Web- and computer-based stress-management interventions can be effective and have the potential to reduce stress-related mental health problems on a large scale.

Book Review of "Mindful Teaching and Learning: Developing a Pedagogy of Well-Being"

Ragoonaden, Karen (Ed.) (2015). Mindful Teaching and Learning: Developing a Pedagogy of Well-Being. Lanham, Maryland: Lexington Books. Pages: 115. Price: $75 USD (hardcover).Karen Ragoonaden's edited volume Mindful Teaching and Learning: Developing a Pedagogy of Well-Being seeks to initiate exchanges about sustainable Mindfulness practices in (p. xii). To this end, slim volume provides an overview of empirical research pertaining to benefits of in an educational context, as well as exploring numerous research projects examining impact of on various actors within different levels of educational institutions, with a focus on higher educational context in both United States and Canada. The treatment of subject matter is at once extensive but concise: role of in lives and work of university faculty, university students, K-12 educational administrative staff, and prospective K-12 educators in both university and practicum contexts is explored in five chapters that follow a brief summary of empirical findings related to in each of these settings. The treatment of these contexts is at once theoretically driven but inherently practical. While reading this volume, one senses intent to compile a list of useful tools and techniques for use in these varied contexts.After Ragoonaden's detailed introduction to chapters included in collection, Elizabeth Mackenzie reviews evidence-based literature within field of contemplative science. Both Ragoonaden and Mackenzie make clear that their definition of in education is rooted in work of Jon Kabat-Zinn on Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) in 1980s and 90s (Kabat-Zinn, 2015; Kabat-Zinn et al., 1998), which has broadened into a more general concept of mindfulness training (MT). Mackenzie outlines outcomes of MT that have been supported empirically in research, for K-12 students and teachers as well as those in Higher Education (HE) settings. These outcomes include enhancement of: cognitive skills such as working memory capacity and attention; brain function, including cerebral blood flow (CBF) changes; immune system function; emotional regulation; resiliency; prosocial behavior; and mental health. These effects are typically larger in clinical populations than in general population, and may operate through other variables such as stress reduction and improved sleep quality. The transdisciplinary nature of evidence provides a convincing portrait of benefits of interventions.Karen Ragoonaden returns in second chapter with a self-study of experience of incorporating MT into her work as a faculty member. For purpose of this self-study, she defines as the human capacity for observation, participation, and acceptance of life's moments from a loving, compassionate stance and defines well-being as health in terms of maximizing one's potential (p. 17). Her self-study is consistent with findings from first chapter in terms of stress reduction and sleep quality in particular, and goes further in emphasizing benefit of compassionate interactions for both instructors and students. Kathryn Byrnes and Tom Bassarear, in their co-authored chapter, continue this theme by describing their university courses aimed at incorporating contemplative pedagogy and teaching within university context. They deconstruct their approach, which is rooted in Arthur Zajonc's seven stages of contemplative inquiry (respect, gentleness, intimacy, participation, vulnerability, transformation, and insight ( Zajonc, 2009)). An appendix of learning activities provides a toolkit for HE instructors to reference.The focus changes midway through collection, turning to Leaderful Mindsets, which emphasize role of in educational leadership. In this chapter, Sabre Cherkowski, Kelly Hansen, and Jennifer Kelly take a two-fold approach, exploring how leaders can discover strengths of others and build communities in educational contexts. …

Disparities in the Use of Yoga: An Opportunity for Yoga Tourism Industry to Make a Triple Impact

Tourism is increasing globally and is predicted to grow. There is also a noticeable change in the motivation for tourism from hedonic to eudemonic self-realization oriented spiritual pursuits. As a part of this process, ‘yoga tourism’ is gaining popularity. However, this development is encumbered with disparities. Yoga tourism purportedly offers to assuage the adverse effects of stress and chronic diseases partially induced by modernity. These predicaments affect everybody uniformly, rather in some ways, worse for men and the low socioeconomic groups. Yet, only 15.8% of the yoga practitioners are males and tourism is mostly out of the reach of the low socioeconomic groups. The situation provides yoga tourism industry an opportunity. How to get started with yoga is a barrier for males and financial constraint is a major barrier for the low socioeconomic groups to undertake tourism or yoga. It is known that many female yoga tourists have a happy family/personal life. Yoga tourism industry can offer attractive financial and hedonic incentives (pull) to motivate them to bring along their male counterparts. On the other hand, social tourism (financially subsidized tourism for the disadvantaged) exists but does not enjoy much support due to lack of advocacy. Yoga tourism industry can spearhead an incentive driven advocacy movement to lobby charity organizations and government welfare agencies to support social (yoga) tourism. (1) This will open up the hitherto untapped huge male and the low socioeconomic groups market and (2) The event participation might help males and the low socioeconomic groups to overcome their respective barriers and introduce them to yoga practice. Apart from market growth and growth of yoga use, in a long run these developments have the potential to translate into substantial public health benefits in terms of reduction in stress, disease burden, health costs and loss of productivity

Psychosocial controversies in breast cancer

Psychosocial controversies in breast cancer

Arsenic Pileup at the SiO2 / Si Interface

Sheet resistance measurements and a Rutherford backscattering spectroscopy analysis show arsenic piles up at the interface between and single‐crystalline silicon. The arsenic piles up mainly in the and can be removed by hydrofluoric acid. Less arsenic piles up than does phosphorus. These results are qualitatively discussed in terms of stress reduction at the interface.

Culture and the subjective effects of stress

The quality of life is a multidimensional, subjective and variable concept. It can be approached by considering either its positive or negative aspects. In this paper, one of the latter—stress—is discussed. It is argued that stress is a general problem and that environments can be conceptualized as stress-modulating devices, so that preferences for particular environments can be partly interpreted in terms of stress reduction. It is further argued that although stress has received much attention, the importance of its subjective effects and the role of culture and perception in it have been neglected. Rather than dealing with two sets of variables — environmental stimuli and organismic factors — a third set should be considered — cultural variables; a three-element model of stress is, therefore, proposed. The implications of this model are discussed, the principal being that the effects of particular stressors depend on their meaning, although the role of species-specific constancies cannot be ignored. The variable effects of apparently minor and major stressors can then be understood and related to the notion in perturbations in homeostasis. Various ways of coping with stress are then discussed and illustrated, as is their relation to environmental variables. Given the argument about the importance of subjective, cognitive factors and the central role of culture in the subjective effects of stress, the implications for planning and design are discussed.