Evaluating the Feasibility and Efficacy of a Self-Administered Manual-Based Stress Management Intervention for Individuals With Asthma: Results From a Controlled Study

Abstract

Several behavioral medicine interventions (e.g., relaxation training and written emotional expression) have been proposed as effective supplemental treatments for individuals with chronic illnesses such as asthma. Whether these treatments are feasible or effective in a manual-based, self-administered format is unclear, and few studies have examined the effectiveness of such treatments presented in a complementary format. We examined the feasibility and effectiveness of a 4-week stress management treatment compared with a matched placebo intervention in young adults with asthma. Both groups considered the workbooks credible treatment interventions and completed them conscientiously. The treatment group showed significant improvement in measures of lung function compared with the placebo group, but analysis revealed no differences in measures of perceived stress. These findings provide initial support for the feasibility of self-administered manual-based interventions and some evidence that they can produce health benefits in individuals with asthma and, perhaps, other chronic conditions.

Focused expressive writing as self‐help for stress and trauma

“…These data suggest that self-administered manuals containing FEW may be beneficial and that individuals will be willing to complete them without extensive supervision (Hockemeyer & Smyth, 2002). Such manualized, self-administered approaches thus represent one promising avenue for the use of FEW as a self-help technique.…”

“…We recently evaluated the effectiveness of a self-administered FEW manual in asthma patients (Hockemeyer & Smyth, 2002). The participants completed a workbook over four weeks.…”

“…In the control condition, the workbook contained audio tapes about asthma, problem-solving exercises, and writing exercises regarding personal time-management plans. Both the treatment and placebo workbooks were viewed as being credible, and 78% of the treatment group and 74% of the placebo group had perfect compliance (Hockemeyer & Smyth, 2002).…”

The Potential of Stress Management Training as a Coping Strategy for Stressors Experienced in Theater of Operation: A Systematic Review

“…Among the 91 scientific papers, 39 examined the efficacy of using SMT to impact on cardiovascular and coronary heart diseases, and most report statistically significant results [14]. Other papers also revealed positive results with medical problems such as cancer [15], HIV [16], diabetes [17], asthma [18], arthritis [19] and acute pain [20]. A more structured form of SMT, AMT, has been studied in 20 peer-reviewed papers.…”

Psychological Interventions in Asthma

“…The range of interventions studied was diverse; nine trials included one of six types of relaxation therapy [22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31]; four studies used behavioural therapy [30,[32][33][34] (three explicitly used biofeedback [30,32,33]; three incorporated cognitive behavioural therapy [28,35,36], one written emotional disclosure [28] and one included psychoeducational techniques [34]. The trials were generally small (range 12 to 106 patient), totalling 687 patients between them.…”