Date of Award

8-1983

Degree Name

Doctor of Education

Department

Counseling and Personnel

First Advisor

Dr. John Geisler

Second Advisor

Dr. Milton Cudney

Third Advisor

Dr. Robert Betz

Abstract

The impact of a cognitively oriented stress management program on participants' perceptions of their stress levels was assessed utilizing a prepost test format with randomly selected experimental and control groups. Between the pre and post tests the experimental group experienced the stress management workshop which focused on four major components: becoming aware of stress and its effects, assessing personal responses to stress, learning effective coping strategies, and designing a personal stress management program. Two measurement instruments were utilized. The Stress Program Assessment Instrument (SPAI) measured participant's cognitive knowledge of stress and coping strategies. The Life Experiences Survey (LES) measured participants' perceptions of their stress levels. Twenty-one subjects participated in the control group and 21 in the experimental group. Both groups showed a significant difference at the .10 level in change scores on the SPAI pre to post, while experimental group change scores were highly significant. The within group LES negative scores decreased significantly at the .10 level. No other significant difference was found in the positive or total LES scores for either group, and none of the correlations between SPAI and LES scores reached significance for either group. Therefore, it appears that the workshop did increase cognitive knowledge of stress and coping ability while positively altering perceptions of stress levels for the experimental group, thus providing a rationale for continuing to offer the stress management workshops.

Access Setting

Dissertation-Open Access

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