Technostress and Its Management Techniques: A Literature Review

Stress Management and Resilience Training (SMART) Program to Decrease Stress and Enhance Resilience Among Breast Cancer Survivors: A Pilot Randomized Clinical Trial

To assess the effects of a multi-modal resilience program, the Stress Management and Resiliency Training (SMART) Program, on healthcare professional well-being and job satisfaction. This pilot, mixed-methods, quality improvement, cohort study assessed perceived stress, physical and mental health, job satisfaction, burnout, and value of the curriculum to attendees. Participants experienced a significant reduction in perceived stress (P < 0.001) and significant improvements in global mental health (P = 0.001), physical health (P = 0.045), and job satisfaction (P = 0.047). There was no significant improvement in burnout. Qualitative analysis of free text responses revealed appreciation for the skills taught, increased resiliency, and a positive impact on relationships. Delivering the SMART Program to healthcare professionals is feasible and may serve as a useful tool for reducing stress and increasing resilience.

Stress Management and Resiliency Training for public school teachers and staff: A novel intervention to enhance resilience and positively impact student interactions

Healthcare workers face an elevated risk of chronic stress and burnout, for which resiliency interventions are needed. The Stress Management and Resiliency Training Program (SMART-3RP; 8 weekly 90-minute sessions) was offered to 254 hospital employees between 2/2021 and 1/2024. Participants were surveyed pre- and post-intervention for measures of resiliency, stress coping, positive affect, perceived stress, anxiety, and depression. The baseline sample was 84% female, 89.5% non-Hispanic, 71.3% White, and averaged 45 years of age (SD = 14.25). Baseline and follow-up survey completion rates were 71.3% (N = 181) and 35.8% (N = 91), respectively. Significant improvements were seen pre-post intervention for all measures (all ps <.001): resiliency (d = 0.57), stress coping (d = 1.1), positive affect (d = 0.83), perceived stress (d = -0.88), anxiety (d = -0.74), and depression (d = -0.43). Alleviating employee stress is crucial for improving individual, clinical, and systems-level outcomes in hospitals. The SMART-3RP is a promising program that provides healthcare workers with resiliency and stress coping skills.

BackgroundThere is growing recognition that wellness interventions should occur in context and acknowledge complex contributors to wellbeing, including individual needs, institutional and cultural barriers to wellbeing, as well as systems issues which propagate distress. The authors conducted a multiple-methods study exploring contributors to wellbeing for junior residents in diverse medical environments who participated in a brief resilience and stress-reduction curriculum, the Stress Management and Resiliency Training Program for Residents (SMART-R).MethodsUsing a waitlist-controlled design, the curriculum was implemented for post-graduate year (PGY)-1 or PGY-2 residents in seven residency programs across three sites. Every three months, residents completed surveys, including the Perceived Stress Scale-10, General Self-Efficacy Questionnaire, a mindfulness scale (CAMSR), and a depression screen (PHQ-2). Residents also answered free-text reflection questions about psychological wellbeing and health behaviors.ResultsThe SMART-R intervention was not significantly associated with decreased perceived stress. Linear regression modeling showed that depression was positively correlated with reported stress levels, while male sex and self-efficacy were negatively correlated with stress. Qualitative analysis elucidated differences in these groups: Residents with lower self-efficacy, those with a positive depression screen, and/or female residents were more likely to describe experiencing lack of control over work. Residents with higher self-efficacy described more positive health behaviors. Residents with a positive depression screen were more self-critical, and more likely to describe negative personal life events.ConclusionsThis curriculum did not significantly modify junior residents’ stress. Certain subpopulations experienced greater stress than others (female residents, those with lower self-efficacy, and those with a positive depression screen). Qualitative findings from this study highlight universal stressful experiences early in residency, as well as important differences in experience of the learning environment among subgroups. Tailored wellness interventions that aim to support diverse resident sub-groups may be higher yield than a “one size fits all” approach.Trial registrationNCT02621801, Registration date: December 4, 2015 – Retrospectively registered.

Although the deleterious effects of work-related stress on employee well-being and organizational effectiveness have received wide attention in the literature, few, if any, controlled experiments have been attempted to assess the effects of stress reduction interventions. In the present study, a stress management training program was evaluated in a field experiment with 79 public agency employees who were randomly assigned to treatment (« = 40) and control (n - 39) groups. The training program consisted of 16 hours of group exposure distributed over 8 weeks. Using procedures based upon those developed by Meichenbaum (1975), treatment subjects were taught to recognize and alter their cognitive interpretations to stressful events at work. Subjects were also taught progressive relaxation techniques to supplement this process. Dependent variables were epinephrine and norepinephrme excretion at work, anxiety, depression, irritation, and somatic complaints, all measured at three times (pretest, posttest, and 4 months after treatment). Treatment subjects exhibited significantly lower epinephrine and depression levels than did controls at the posttest, and 4-month follow-up levels did not regress to pretest levels. However, treatment effects were not replicated in a subsequent intervention on the original control group. The general adoption of such stress management programs was not recommended.

We conducted a pilot study to examine the feasibility, acceptance, and subjective effectiveness of a new stress management training program tailored to the needs of adults with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). After a baseline evaluation of perceived chronic stress and coping strategies, 18 adults with ADHD participated in four sessions of stress management training and completed posttests on chronic stress and additional measures. Participants rated the acceptance and effectiveness of the training as high. Positive effects were found with respect to perceptions of excessive demands at work, chronic worry, and general stress experience. The findings suggest that stress management training is a valuable adjuvant for the treatment of ADHD in adults. Further development and evaluation of the intervention is desirable.

An evaluation of a stress management program for individuals with schizophrenia

work stress is becoming an increasingly important issue in the workplace safety (K3) perspective. Factors that influence work stress have a significant impact on employee health and organizational productivity. This study aims to identify and analyze the factors that contribute to the level of work stress and its impact on K3. The research method used is a literature study that investigates various factors that can cause work stress, including excessive workload, role conflict, lack of control over work, lack of social support, job insecurity, and unsafe working conditions. In addition, the impact of work stress on K3 has also been analyzed, including an increased risk of work accidents, reduced attention span, and increased risk of physical and mental illness. Research shows that factors such as high job demands, lack of job control, and unsafe work environments contribute significantly to workplace stress levels. In addition, work stress also negatively affects K3, increasing the risk of accidents and occupational diseases. The practical implications of these findings are that organizations can influence workplace stress through intervention programs such as stress management training, encouraging work-life balance, increasing social support, and improving managed work conditions. Therefore, these initiatives not only improve K3 and employee well-being, but also help improve productivity and performance throughout the organization.

ObjectivesThis study explores whether feelings of defeat (i.e., a sense of failed struggle and losing rank; referred to as defeat for simplicity) mediated the effect of work stress on depression/anxiety, the effect of interpersonal needs on depression/anxiety for Chinese industrial workers, and the possible moderating role of social support.MethodA cross-sectional study was conducted in Shenzhen, China in 2019, in total, 2023 industrial workers (of 2700 invited; response rate = 75%) completed a self-administered survey consisted of Job Stress Scale, Interpersonal Needs Questionnaire, Defeat Scale, Centre for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale, Generalized Anxiety Disorder Scale, two face-valid questions for social support, as well as sociodemographic information. Moderated mediation model was tested and loop plots were applied to probe into the conditional effects of work and interpersonal stress on depression and anxiety symptoms.ResultBoth the direct and indirect effect of work stress on depression and anxiety through defeat were significant (Work stress→ Depression: B = 0.035, p < .001, Work stress→ Defeat→ Depression: B = 0.034, p < .001; Work stress→ Anxiety: B = 0.038, p < .001, Work stress→ Defeat→ Anxiety: B = 0.045, p < .001). Meanwhile, defeat mediated the relationship of interpersonal needs with depression partially and the relationship of interpersonal needs with anxiety totally (Interpersonal needs→ Anxiety: B = 0.133, p < .001, Interpersonal needs→ Defeat→ Anxiety: B = 0.010, p = .537). Social support moderated the indirect path between interpersonal needs and depression/anxiety and buffered the effect.ConclusionThe mediating role of defeat and the moderator role of social support in the relationship between stress and depression/anxiety were confirmed in industrial workers. Workers who reported more work and interpersonal stress would report more defeat feelings, and then exhibited more depression and anxiety symptoms; this mediation effect was stronger for those who had lower social support, respectively.

This study examines the mediating role of stress coping styles-problem-focused coping and emotion-focused coping-on the relationship between work stress and psychological well-being in clinical nurses according to career experience. A cross-sectional survey design was used. Data were collected from February to March 2016. The study population was composed of 399 nurses working at two university hospitals with over 500 beds located in Seoul and Gyeonggi-do in South Korea. Self-report questionnaires were administered to measure work stress (Work Stress Scale), stress coping styles (Korean version of The Ways of Coping Checklist Scale), and psychological well-being (Ryff's Psychological Well-being Scale). A multiple-group path analysis was performed using SPSS version 21.0. In the path model analysis (N = 399), work stress directly influenced psychological well-being. Both problem-focused coping and emotion-focused coping were indirectly influenced in the relationship between work stress and psychological well-being. In the group of nurses with 3 years or less of career experience (n = 202), work stress was significantly related to psychological well-being. Only emotion-focused coping exerted a partial mediating effect on the relationship between work stress and psychological well-being. On the other hand, in the group of nurses with over 3 years of career experience (n = 197), work stress was not significantly related to psychological well-being. Both problem-focused coping and emotion-focused coping exerted a full mediating effect on the relationship between work stress and psychological well-being. This study's path analysis displayed a distinct pathway in the relationships among work stress, stress coping styles, and psychological well-being between nurses with 3 years or less and nurses with over 3 years of experience. The intervention with decreasing work stress and emotion-focused coping could be effective for nurses with less career experience, whereas the intervention with focusing on improving emotion- and problem-focused coping could be effective for nurses with more career experience. The practical implications of the results suggest that nurses need different stress management programs according to their career experience, as the appropriate use of stress coping styles would improve the psychological well-being of nurses as influenced by their work stress.

Background: Living with schizophrenic patients and its associated stress and negative psychological burden can bring about different experiences for their families. The provision of stress management training for these families can be helpful in increasing self-confidence and enhancing interpersonal communication in these caregivers, which can improve their mental health status and enhance the quality of patient care. Aim: Regarding this, the aim of the present study was to investigate the impact of stress management training on positive experiences of the families giving care to patients suffering from schizophrenia. Method: This randomized controlled clinical trial was conducted on 57 primary caregivers of schizophrenic patients admitted to Ibn Sina Hospital in Mashhad, Iran in 2016. For the purpose of the study, the participants were divided into the control (including 29 individuals) and experimental groups (entailing 28 subjects). Subsequently, a stress management training program was administered on the experimental group within six one-hour sessions. On the other hand, the control group only received educational pamphlets on stress management at the end of the study. Additionally, the standardized Experience of Caregiving Inventory developed by Szmukler et al. was filled out by the caregivers before and three months after the intervention. The data analysis was performed using independent-samples t-test and Mann-Whitney U test through SPSS version 11.5. Results: The findings of this study revealed that 50% (14 cases) and 69% (20 subjects) of the participants in the experimental and control groups were female, respectively. The results revealed no significant differences in the total scores for positive experiences of the caregivers in the control (61.2±17.3) and experimental groups (62.3±20.7) at the pre-intervention stage (P=0.40). Likewise, no significant difference was observed between the total scores of the control group (64.5±14.3) and experimental group (67.6±12.9) at the post-intervention stage (P=0.40).Implications for Practice: Given the findings of the present study and considering that positive experiences are taken into account as parts of high levels of needs and performance among the caregivers, it seems that improving such positive experiences requires specific and complementary interventions.

Registered Report Stage I: Effects of a nurse-led stress management and resilience training programme for nursing undergraduates: A study protocol for a randomised wait-list controlled trial

The purpose of this study was to determine and analyze the effect of work-family conflict (X1), workload (X2), self-efficacy (X3), work stress (Y) and social support (Z) on nurses at Muhammadiyah Hospital Rodliyah Achid Moga Hospital. Data collection in this study was carried out by distributing questionnaires which were distributed to nurses at Muhammadiyah Rodliyah Achid Moga Hospital. The sample in this study amounted to 40 respondents and the technique used was the saturated sample technique. From the results of data analysis, it shows that: (1) Work-family conflict has a positive and significant effect on work stress. (2) Workload has a positive and significant effect on work stress. (3) Self-efficacy has a negative and significant effect on work stress. (4) Social support is able to moderate the effect of work-family conflict on work stress. (5) Social support is able to moderate the effect of workload on work stress. (6) Social support is not able to moderate the effect of self-efficacy on work stress on nurses at Muhammadiyah Rodliyah Achid Moga Hospital.Keywords: Work-Family Conflict, Workload, Self-Efficacy, Social Support and Work Stress.

: Police Academy trainees participated in a stress management program which focused on developing skills for coping with anxiety and anger. Stress management training took place in six two-hour sessions and included instruction and practice in the self-monitoring of reactions to stressful situations, muscular relaxation, and the development of adaptive self-statements. Self-report measures of anxiety and anger were obtained before and after the stress management program. In addition, self and observer ratings of trainees performance in stressful simulated police activities were utilized as post-treatment dependent measures. In comparison to a control group of trainees, the performance of the treatment group was rated, by academy personnel, as superior in several of the simulated police activities. The results of the present study suggest that stress management with law enforcement officers may be most effective when the program focuses on the specific situations which are likely to be encountered by trainees. Limitations of the present program are examined and suggestions for future efforts with law enforcement personnel are discussed. (Author)