Short-Term Effects of a Multidimensional Stress Prevention Program on Quality of Life, Well-Being and Psychological Resources. A Randomized Controlled Trial

Abstract

It is well-documented that university students have an increased risk in developing psychological problems because they face multiple stressors. Cognitive, behavioral, and mindfulness-based stress prevention programs were shown to reduce symptoms of anxiety, depression, and perceived stress in university students. However, little is known of their effect on resource activation. Additionally, most validated interventions are unidimensional, i.e., including one stress-coping approach. In this study, we investigated the short-term effects of a multidimensional stress prevention program on students' quality of life, psychological symptoms and resources, and resilience factors against stress. Using an experimental design, 64 healthy undergraduate students (56 women), between 18 and 34 years old (M = 21.34, SD = 2.53), from the University of Fribourg, Switzerland, were randomly allocated either to the intervention or the wait-list control group. The intervention group participated in a multidimensional stress prevention program, integrating mindfulness-based activities, cognitive and behavioral strategies, social skills, and emotional regulation exercises. The program consisted of eight 2-h weekly sessions. Before and after the intervention, participants completed self-reported questionnaires evaluating quality of life; psychological symptoms such as depression, anxiety, social anxiety, and interpersonal problems; as well as psychological resources like self-efficacy, sense of coherence, self-compassion, and social support, presented online. A standardized clinical interview was performed at pre- and post-measurement times. To analyze the sort-term effects of the program, we used mixed, two-factorial ANOVAs (per-protocol analyses). In accordance with our hypotheses, our results showed significant reduction of psychological symptoms, including anxiety, interpersonal problems, and symptoms of pain; a significant increase in quality of life, sense of coherence, and self-compassion in students who participated in the intervention program compared to the control group, (all p < 0.05). No significant results were found for symptoms of depression, social anxiety, self-efficacy, and social support. These preliminary findings indicate specific short-term effects of our multidimensional stress prevention program on psychological symptoms and on quality of life as well as promising effects on psychological resources and factors associated with resilience against stress. Future studies should investigate the long-term effects of the intervention as well as the effects in clinical samples.

The Relationship between Psychological Well-Being and Psychosocial Factors in University Students

“…Therefore, the higher the level of social skills in these students, the higher the level of general psychological well-being. These results are consistent with those reported by Recabarren [ 71 ], Vasilenko et al [ 31 ], Souri and Hasanirad [ 72 ] and Freire et al [ 73 ]. These authors concluded that a larger number of positive relationships in one’s own environment or context led to better coping strategies and more resilience or capacity to adapt.…”

“…It follows that students who have the personality trait of anxiety will have greater difficulties in establishing positive relationships with their environment. It can be concluded that, in keeping with the studies of Cooke et al [ 4 ], Recabarren [ 71 ] and Stallman [ 6 ], higher levels of anxiety occur in the university stage and psychological well-being declines worryingly. Zuñiga [ 51 ] pointed out that state anxiety and trait anxiety seem to be correlated with all psychological well-being dimensions, except the personal growth dimension, applying the same instruments to assess anxiety and well-being in university students.…”

Effectiveness of mindfulness-based stress reduction program on quality of life in cardiovascular disease patients

“…It is also known that the effect of MBSR can be stable and last even up to 15 months after treatment, and by self-regulating pain, leads to changes in negative body image, inhibition of pain response, mood disorder, and psychological syndromes including anxiety and depression even after 15 months of treatment [42], which can be attributed to self-regulation of emotion and the creation of the positive cycles mentioned above [41]. According to the literature, spiritual problems are the main cause of heart disease, and programs that target such problems can have a positive effect on the mental and emotional state of patients with CVDs [27]. Mindfulness-based interventions can have a positive effect in improving the factors associated with cardiovascular functions, due to their impact on the lifestyle and the emotional and spiritual health of individuals, as emphasized by Ornish, the leading researcher and the architect of the healthy lifestyle of the heart [43].…”

“…MBSR has also been used to control factors for CVDs and prevent them. Including MBSR for regulating respiration and heart rate, regulation of blood pressure and prevention of CVDs [[22], [23], [24]], and adjustment of psychological problems such as self-efficacy, stress, anger, depression, anxiety, and sleep disorders [25,26], and improving psychological attributes such as quality of life [27,28].…”

Cardiorenal metabolic biomarkers link early life stress to risk of non-communicable diseases and adverse mental health outcomes

“…Twenty-three male C57BL/6 mice ( Mus musculus ) were used. A multidimensional shipment stressor was chosen as a clinically valid stress model because it occurs prominently in human populations 27 , 28 and in laboratory animal and livestock transportation 29 – 31 . Stressed animals (n = 14) were shipped from Charles River Laboratories (Charles River Laboratories, QC, Canada) via 3.25 h of ground transportation and a 5-h flight as airfreight.…”