Persistent effects of cognitive-behavioral stress management on cortisol responses to acute stress in healthy subjects—A randomized controlled trial

Effects of a therapeutic intervention for foster preschoolers on diurnal cortisol activity

“…Compared to the healthy adults from the comparison group, the adults in the treatment group exhibited lower pretreatment early morning cortisol levels that increased significantly following 14 treatment sessions. Similarly, several studies have documented the positive effects of stress management interventions in reducing healthy individuals' cortisol responses to acute stressors (Gaab et al, 2003;Hammerfald et al, 2005;Gaab et al, 2006). Third, in a series of studies on children adopted in the United States following institutional rearing in developing nations, researchers have documented low early morning cortisol levels at the time of adoption that became more typical (i.e., having a morning peak in cortisol that declines gradually through the day) after time in the adoptive families (Bruce et al, 2000;.…”

Salivary VIP concentrations are elevated in humans after acute stress

“…The HPA axis has been proposed as a major pathway linking psychological stress to its negative consequences on physiology (Hammerfald et al, 2006). Increased levels of cortisol has been shown to have negative health consequences (Hammerfald et al, 2006).…”

“…All of the subjects then underwent cognitive-behavioral stress management training. The subjects then took the TSST again and the results showed an attenuation of the cortisol responses to stress (Hammerfald et al, 2006). The cortisol response was attenuated probably because it was their second experience.…”

Psychoendocrine validation of a short measure for assessment of perceived stress management skills in different non-clinical populations

“…Typical stress management techniques include providing cognitive strategies such as cognitive restructuring, self-instructions, and systematic problem solving (Meichenbaum, 1985(Meichenbaum, , 1991Kaluza, 1996;Siegrist, 1998;Wagner-Link, 2001;Gaab et al, 2003;Hammerfald et al, 2005) intended to modulate the cognitive stress appraisal processes to allow for optimal coping with a given stressful situation. Indeed, training individuals with cognitive strategies reduced anticipatory cognitive stress appraisal of a standardized stress situation which in turn predicted lower HPA axis responses to a standardized psychosocial stressor (Gaab et al, 2003;Hammerfald et al, 2005). Additional components of current stress management interventions include training of social skills (Reschke, 2000;Wagner-Link, 2001;Hinsch and Pfingsten, 2007), or anger regulation skills (Siegrist, 1998;Wiegard, 2000).…”

“…Relaxation techniques such as progressive muscle relaxation have been shown to acutely decrease activity of stress-responsive systems and thus possibly prepare for either active stress management or regeneration (Cruess et al, 2000;Jones, 2002, 2005). Moreover, awareness of bodily tension is often integrated in stress management interventions (Meichenbaum, 1985(Meichenbaum, , 1991Gaab et al, 2003;Hammerfald et al, 2005). This component is likely to function as an indicator of the current stress level that does not per se 5 reduce perceived stress but most likely serves as a cue to stimulate the active use of other stress management techniques by creating awareness of adverse effects of stress such as bodily tension.…”