Treatment of chronic stress in employees: Subjective, cognitive, and neural correlates.

• This study reports the effect of an affect-focused intervention program, the Affect School (AS), on stress, psychological symptoms, cognitive functioning and neural activity. Fifty employees in social service and education, with high levels of chronic stress, were randomly divided into a treatment (N=27) and control (N=23) group. Complete sets of data were available in 20 participants in the treatment group and in 17 in the control group. The Percieved Stress Questionnaire assessed stress and the Symptom Chech List-90 psychological symptoms before and after the treatment. Episodic-memory functioning under focussed and divided attention conditions was also assessed. Prior and after the AS, seven participants in the treatment group were studied with fMRI during episodic memory processing. After the AS there was a reduction in stress and psychological symptoms for the treatment group but not in the control group. The controls showed a reduction in episodic memory functioning whereas the performance of the treatment group remained intact. The fMRI scanning indicated a qualitative change in the neural network subserving episodic memory. These preliminary results suggest that the AS is effective on individuals with high stress.

Ämnesord

SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP  -- Psykologi (hsv//swe)

SOCIAL SCIENCES  -- Psychology (hsv//eng)

MEDICIN OCH HÄLSOVETENSKAP  -- Medicinska och farmaceutiska grundvetenskaper -- Neurovetenskaper (hsv//swe)

MEDICAL AND HEALTH SCIENCES  -- Basic Medicine -- Neurosciences (hsv//eng)

Nyckelord

psychological stress

memory

functional imaging

Psychology

Psykologi

Publikations- och innehållstyp

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