Effects of a two-day stress management intervention - an experimental study

Abstract

Background: Stress management interventions are a common instrument for health promotion. But how useful are short interventions? The scope of this experimental study was to evaluate short and long-term effects of a two-day multimodal stress management training (“Gelassen und sicher im Stressâ€). In accordance with the systemic demands-resources-model of health, we used following evaluation criteria: perceived chronic stress and maladaptive coping behavior as demands; resilience, adaptive coping behavior and job satisfaction as resources; burnout and stress reactivity as health outcome variables. Methods: 155 participants (110 female, 45 male) with a mean age of 41 years (Range = 24 - 66) were randomized into two conditions: an intervention group (n = 59) and a waiting list control group (n = 96). We collected data on self-reported dependent variables (e.g. TICS, SVF-78, MBI) at four measurement points: before the training, two weeks, three and six months after the training. ANOVA with repeated measures, planned contrasts and mediation analyses were computed. Findings: Analyses revealed a significant time x condition interaction effect for almost all criteria. Contrast analyses showed effect sizes ranging .04 ≤ η² ≤ .15 for short and mid-term and .06 ≤ η² ≤ .21 for long-term effects. Mid-term changes in maladaptive coping behavior mediated some of the long-term intervention effects. Discussion: The results are in line with recent empiric findings and prove the sustainable effects of a two-day training format impressively. The stress management training concept on hand is an economic and effective instrument for health promotion.