Context: Current holistic rehabilitation blends both physical and psychological techniques. However, validation of the usefulness of psychological strategies is limited in the literature.Objective: To quantify the effects of psychological strategies on both physiologic (salivary cortisol) and subjective assessments of stress.Design: Randomized controlled clinical trial. Setting: Laboratory. Patients or Other Participants: A total of 97 college-aged students (age ¼ 20.65 6 4.38 years), most with little to no experience with psychological strategies.Intervention(s): A 15-minute script via an iPod led the participant through visual imagery (cognitive relaxation) or deep breathing exercises (somatic relaxation) cues. The control group listened to 15 minutes of ambient nature sounds.Main Outcome Measure(s): Two samples (pretest, posttest) of salivary cortisol were analyzed using an enzyme immunoassay kit; the average was used for statistical analysis. Descriptive statistics and correlations were conducted to examine group differences in time of day, salivary cortisol, sex, Stress-O-Meter values, and Perceived Stress Scale scores.Results: Salivary cortisol levels were lower in the treatment group than the control group (F 2,97 ¼ 15.62, P , .001). Females had higher scores on both the pretest Stress-O-Meter (5.15 6 1.796) and the Perceived Stress Scale (18.31 6 5.833) than males (4.25 6 1.741 and 15.272 6 5.390, respectively).Conclusions: Both cognitive and somatic relaxation strategies reduced cortisol levels. Participants who received verbal guidance achieved a larger cortisol reduction. However, the change in cortisol level was uncorrelated with the change in report of acute stress; females reported higher levels of stress. Clinical implications include attention to sex when assessing stress and providing coping skills during the rehabilitation process.Key Words: relaxation, somatic relaxation, cognitive relaxation, cortisol Key PointsCognitive and somatic relaxation strategies were effective in decreasing acute stress as measured by the change in salivary cortisol. Female college students reported higher levels of acute and chronic stress than their male counterparts. Athletic trainers should use relaxation strategies and consider sex differences while caring for injured athletes during rehabilitation.

Purpose High levels of stress reported at college campuses has led to the need for stress management interventions. College students often do not know how to deal with the increase in stress during college which may lead to ineffective ways to manage stress, such as drugs, alcohol, and under the worst circumstance, suicide. Several universities have implemented stress relieving centers where students can participate in various modalities to relax and reduce symptoms of stress. The purpose of this paper is to compare four stress reduction modalities on the amount of physiologic and perceived stress (PS) reduction in a stress relief center. Design/methodology/approach Archival information of 5,526 students (2,759 female, 2,767 male) were analyzed. During their time at the relaxation center, these students would participate in one of four relaxation modalities (massage chair, chi machine, rejuvenation lounger, or sitting meditation). Upon entering and exiting the center, PS, systolic blood pressure (SBP), diastolic blood pressure (DBP), and heart rate (HR) were measured. The dependent variables were compared from pre- to post-relaxation with paired tests. Gain scores were calculated for each dependent variable and compared between modalities with an ANOVA and post hoc independent t-tests. The α was set at=0.05 for statistical significance. Findings Results indicated that all four modalities showed an overall decrease in stress-related symptoms for both men and women (p<0.05). There was no statistical difference in dependent variable gain scores between the relaxation modalities (p>0.05) for men. There was no statistical difference in dependent variable gain scores between the relaxation modalities (p>0.05) for women except for SBP and DBP where the massage chair, chi machine, and sitting meditation all reduced SBP and DBP to a greater degree than the rejuvenation lounger (p<0.05). Originality/value The results of this study suggest that the use of these stress reduction modalities (massage chair, chi machine, rejuvenation lounger, or sitting meditation) is effective at transiently reducing physiologic and perceived measures of stress of college students. Universities should recognize the importance of stress relief centers in order to help students manage stress symptoms and effectively manage their daily stress levels.

A system of recording and analysing interaction, which was originally designed for the study of mother-child interaction was applied to the problem of child-child interaction. The experimental situation involved the first meeting of 2 8-yr.-old boys in a play situation. 5 boys were paired in all possible combinations. Specific individual interactions were analysed on the parameters of dominance, friendliness, and involvement; each S's generalized response characteristics and stimulus characteristics were examined. The contrast between the present findings and the systematic contingencies demonstrated in well-established relationships suggest that this is an effective method for further research.