| 1. |
- Almén, Niclas, 1971-, et al.
(författare)
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Behavioral Stress Recovery Management Intervention for People With High Levels of Perceived Stress : A Randomized Controlled Trial
- 2020
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Ingår i: International Journal of Stress Management. - : American Psychological Association (APA). - 1072-5245 .- 1573-3424. ; 27:2, s. 183-194
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Continuous and prolonged exposure to stressors or unsuccessfully dealing with such exposure has been suggested as precursors for burnout. Current research indicates that such stress problems could be conceptualized as deficiencies in recovery between periods of stress. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of a behaviorally oriented stress recovery management intervention for people experiencing high levels of stress. A total of 73 individuals with experiences of stress symptoms and high levels of perceived stress (>= 25 on the Perceived Stress Scale) were randomly allocated to either a 10-week intervention group or a waiting-list control group. Participants were assessed at preintervention, postintervention, and 3-month follow-up. The Perceived Stress Scale, questions about tension, and the Shirom-Melamed Burnout Questionnaire were used as primary outcome measures. and the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale was used as a secondary outcome measure. Data were analyzed following the intention-to-treat principle. The analysis demonstrated statistically significant improvements for all measures at posttreatment and at follow-up. The between-groups effect sizes were high at posttreatment and moderate-to-high at follow-up. Intervention focused on stress recovery behavior seems to be an effective way of reducing perceived stress, tension, burnout symptoms, anxiety, and depression in people with stress symptoms and high levels of perceived stress in everyday life. The tested intervention warrants further research. Other stress recovery behavior interventions need to be tested to draw conclusions on the efficacy of stress recovery behavior interventions in general regarding stress and burnout.
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| 2. |
- Almén, Niclas, 1971-, et al.
(författare)
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Burn Out: Effects Of A Brief Behavioral Recovery Program
- 2019
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Ingår i: Libro de Actas. - Granada. ; , s. 269-
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- Background: Continuous and prolonged exposure to stressors or unsuccessfully dealing with such exposure has been suggested as precursors for burnout. Current research indicates that such stress problems could be conceptualized as deficiencies in recovery between periods of stress. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of a brief stress-recovery behavior intervention for people experiencing high levels of stress. Method: Seventy-three individuals with experiences of stress symptoms and high levels of perceived stress (≥ 25 on the Perceived Stress Scale) were randomly allocated to either a 12-week intervention group (INT) or a waiting list control group (WLC). Participants were assessed at pre-intervention, post-intervention and at 3-month follow-up. Data, including indices of Heart Rate Variability (HRV), Perceived stress scale (PSS), questions about tension, Shirom-Melamed Burnout Questionnaire (SMBQ), and the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) as a secondary outcome measure, will be analyzed and presented following the intention-to-treat principle.
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| 3. |
- Almén, Niclas, 1971-, et al.
(författare)
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Effects of a Recovery-Focused Intervention for Stress Management : A Randomized Controlled Trial
- 2015
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- AbstractINTRODUCTIONStress symptoms, burnout, poor mental health and long-term sick leave related to these are major problems in Sweden and elsewhere. Evidence-based prevention and treatment efforts are lacking. Research indicates that stress related health problems primarily could be conceptualized as deficiencies in recovery responses between stress periods rather than high level of stress responses per se. Therefore it is relevant to examine whether it is effective to intervene the recovery behavior – instead of the stress behavior - of people with stress symptoms.OBJECTIVESThe primary purpose of this study was to investigate if a behavioral oriented recovery management intervention could enhance “recovery behaviors” and experiences of recovery and reduce stress related ill health.METHODS A group based intervention program focusing exclusively on “recovery behavior” in everyday life (earlier developed and tested in two pilot studies) was evaluated in an experimental group study. The intervention consisted of seven group sessions of 2.5 hours over a period of approximately 10 weeks supplemented by an internet based treatment support system. Self- referred subjects with scores above 24.4 on the Perceived stress scale were randomized to the intervention (n=26) or a waiting-list (n=33).RESUL TStatistically significant and clinically relevant effects were achieved for the intervention group compare to the waiting-list group: recovery behaviors and experiences of recovery were increased, and levels of perceived stress, worry, anxiety, depression and exhaustion were decreased.DISCUSSION These results are in line with two previous pilot studies that we have done. A behavioral and recovery oriented intervention seems to be effective to increase the recovery of the individual and decrease stress related ill health. There are reasons to continue to explore the potential of recovery-oriented interventions for example for different populations (such as people with more extensive clinical health problems) and in different contexts.
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| 4. |
- Almén, Niclas, 1971-
(författare)
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Intervening Stress Recovery Behaviors in Everyday Life
- 2022
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Background. High levels of perceived stress and stress-related ill health, such as burnout, are common in many countries. Several theories postulate that stress behaviors promote adaption to environmental changes and if sustained they are potentially harmful for the body. In accordance, impaired stress recovery behaviors, i.e., psychophysiological deactivation after periods of stress behaviors, have been suggested to be a critical factor in explaining stress-related ill health. Whereas research shows that interventions targeting stress reactivity can have beneficial effects on stress-related variables, studies on interventions targeting stress recovery are surprisingly few. Also, the number of validated instruments for measuring behaviors important for stress recovery are few, in particular easily used self-rating scales. Aims. The primary aim of the thesis was to evaluate stress and health-related effects of an intervention targeting stress recovery behaviors in everyday life among people perceiving high levels of stress in life. A secondary aim was to validate a self-report scale measuring behaviors important for stress recovery in everyday life. Method. Three empirical studies were conducted to evaluate effects of the behavioral stress recovery intervention “balance in everyday life”, which solely aims at strengthening stress recovery behaviors in everyday life. First, a brief version of the intervention was investigated through a small pilot study in which a single-subject experimental design was used (study 1). After that, the intervention was exploratively tested in a group format in which a quasi-experimental design was used (study 2). Due to the positive results of these two studies, a larger scale study using a randomized controlled design was conducted in order to further investigate the effects of the intervention when delivered in a group format (study 3). To fulfill the secondary aim of the thesis, the Recovery Experience Questionnaire was translated into Swedish and analyzed using exploratory factor analysis and confirmatory factor analysis (study 4). Results. In study 1, data demonstrated immediate reduction of stress symptoms as a function of the intervention. The improvements were maintained at 1-year and 5-year follow-up assessments. In study 2, in comparison with a waiting-list-control group, the intervention yielded statistically significant improvements between pre- and postintervention assessment on eleven out of twelve stress and health-related variables. Medium to large between-groups effect sizes were demonstrated for the primary outcome measures covering (potential) recovery behaviors, perceived stress and rest and experiences of being recovered. In the third study, statistically significant improvements for all outcome measures at postintervention assessment and at the 3-month follow-up were demonstrated. The between-groups effect sizes for the primary measures - perceived stress, tension, and burnout - were medium-to-high at postintervention assessment and at follow-up. In addition, in all studies the intervention was associated with beneficial changes in levels of anxiety and depression. In the last study, support was found for the proposed four-factor structure of the Swedish version of the Recovery Experience Questionnaire. Conclusions. The results clearly indicate that the intervention “balance in everyday life” improves stress and health-related factors in a relatively satisfactory way among people perceiving high levels of stress in life. The empirical support is strongest for the reduction in tension, perceived stress, burnout, anxiety and depression, and to deliver the intervention in a group format. The studies demonstrated results that warrant further investigation of the effects of “balance in everyday life”, for example in different contexts, and to study other behavioral recovery interventions. To test (potential) recovery facilitating behaviors as mediators of intervention effects, such as reduction in burnout, the Swedish version of the Recovery Experience Questionnaire could be used.
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| 5. |
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| 6. |
- Almén, Niclas, 1971-, et al.
(författare)
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Recovery experiences effects of a recovery behaviour intervention for people with high levels of perceived stress : A randomized control trial
- 2018
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- Background: Stress problems could be conceptualized as deficiencies in recovery between periods of stress and research indicates that recovery from work stress and effort might be crucial for health and well-being. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of a behaviorally oriented stress-recovery management intervention for people with high levels of perceived stress on different recovery experiences. Method: 73 individuals with high levels of perceived stress (>24.4 on Perceived Stress Scale) were randomly allocated to either a 10-week intervention group or a waiting list control group. Participants were assessed at pre-intervention, immediately after the intervention, and 3-month after the end of the intervention. The outcome measures were the four dimensions of the Recovery Experiences Questionnaire (REQ): relaxation, mastery, control and psychological detachment. For analysis the intention-to-treat principle was used.Results: Preliminary analysis indicated positive results on measurements of different recovery dimensions of this brief intervention.
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| 7. |
- Almén, Niclas, 1971-, et al.
(författare)
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The reliability and factorial validity of the Swedish version of the Recovery Experience Questionnaire
- 2018
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Ingår i: Nordic Psychology. - : Informa UK Limited. - 1901-2276 .- 1904-0016. ; 70:4, s. 324-333
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Recent research has indicated that recovery from work stress and effort might be crucial for health and well-being. Thus, a valid measurement of recovery becomes important. The main purpose of the present study was to empirically evaluate and seeking support for the hypothesized four-factor model of the Swedish version of Recovery Experience Questionnaire (REQ). The total sample (N = 680) was randomly split into two subsamples. The first subsample was used for finding the best-fitting model using an exploratory factor analysis and the second subsample was used to test the a priori model using confirmatory factor analysis. The results support the proposed four-factor structure of the scale for both males and females. Additionally, apart from high reliability estimates, this instrument proved to have good convergent and discriminant validity for all four factors. Implications for the use of the REQ in conjunction with recovery-focused interventions were discussed, as were limitations such as low response rate.
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| 8. |
- Bergman Nordgren, Lise, et al.
(författare)
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Polariserad debatt om riktlinjer skymmer viktiga frågor
- 2018
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Ingår i: Läkartidningen. - 0023-7205 .- 1652-7518. ; 115:37, s. 1372-1372
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Tidskriftsartikel (populärvet., debatt m.m.)abstract
- Debatten om Socialstyrelsens nya riktlinjer för ångest och depression har varit polariserad och inte konstruktiv. Diskussionen bör inte handla om PDT eller KBT utan om evidensbaserade metoder och kompetensbrist.
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| 9. |
- Bernhardsson, Jens, et al.
(författare)
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Changes in Event Related Potentials after exposure therapy for spider phobic individuals
- 2016
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Ingår i: International Journal of Psychophysiology. - : Elsevier BV. - 0167-8760 .- 1872-7697. ; 108, s. 105-106
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Tidskriftsartikel (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The present study was conducted in order to investigate treatment effects in spider phobic individuals on EEG and eye movements. A previous study has shown larger ERP amplitudes in the late positive complex (LPC) post treatment compared to pre treatment during exposure of spider pictures (Leutgeb, Schäfer, & Schienle, 2009). The authors hypothesize that the result might mirror an increase in attention towards the stimuli and reduced attentional avoidance generating enhanced LPC amplitude as a consequence of directing attention to the spider pictures post treatment. In the present study spider fearful individuals (treatment and waitlist group) and control individuals were measured with EEG and Eye tracking during exposure to pictures of spiders, snakes and flowers pre and post treatment. Based on behavioral and self-assessed measures treatment effects were high. Contrary to Leutgeb et al. (2009), our results showed relatively smaller LPC amplitudes post treatment during presentations of spider pictures. Moreover, the eye movement data indicated no avoidance from spider pictures compared to other pictures, neither pre nor post treatment. These results indicate that when individuals attend to visual threat stimuli, LPC amplitude differences follow the pattern of emotional significance and attention allocation.
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