Stress Management Intervention for Leaders Increases Nighttime SDANN: Results from a Randomized Controlled Trial

Abstract

Stress management interventions aim to reduce the disease risk that is heightened by work stress. Possible pathways of risk reduction include improvements in the autonomous nervous system, which is indexed by the measurement of heart rate variability (HRV). A randomized controlled trial on improving stress management skills at work was conducted to investigate the effects of intervention on HRV. A total of 174 lower management employees were randomized into either the waiting list control group (CG) or the intervention group (IG) receiving a 2-day stress management training program and another half-day booster after four and six months. In the trial, 24 h HRV was measured at baseline and after 12 months. Heart rate (HR), root mean square of successive differences (RMSSD), standard deviation of normal-to-normal intervals (SDNN), and standard deviation of the average of normal-to-normal intervals (SDANN) were calculated for 24 h and nighttime periods. Age-adjusted multilevel mixed effects linear regressions with unstructured covariance, time as a random coefficient, and time × group interaction with the according likelihood-ratio tests were calculated. The linear mixed-effect regression models showed neither group effects between IG and CG at baseline nor time effects between baseline and follow-up for SDANN (24 h), SDNN (24 h and nighttime), RMSSD (24 h and nighttime), and HR (24 h and nighttime). Nighttime SDANN significantly improved in the intervention group (z = 2.04, p = 0.041) compared to the control group. The objective stress axis measures (SDANN) showed successful stress reduction due to the training. Nighttime SDANN was strongly associated with minimum HR. Though the effects were small and only visible at night, it is highly remarkable that 3 days of intervention achieved a measurable effect considering that stress is only one of many factors that can influence HR and HRV.

Complex Interactive Multimodal Intervention Improve Personalized Stress Management Among Healthcare Workers in China: a controlled non-randomized study (Preprint)

“…As reported in a previous research [36], the PSS score decreased by 1.5 points after intervention in the control group. We hypothesized that PSS score in the CIMI group would decrease by an additional 2 points compared to the control group.…”

Supporting each other’s heart at work: An ambulatory field study.

“…In an integrated manner, organizations should implement stress management interventions (SMIs) which are designed to improve employees’ awareness of potential stressors in the workplace and their ability to cope with them also by enhancing the social support among peers (a detailed example of group training can be found in Limm et al, 2011). Indeed, SMI was found to improve physiological markers of stress at work like HRV (Balint et al, 2022; Wetzel et al, 2011). Finally, it is important to note that the association between HRV and social engagement and support is bidirectional, meaning that individuals with higher HRV have been shown to be more prone to engage in altruistic, prosocial, and compassionate behaviors (e.g., Bornemann et al, 2016, Di Bello et al, 2020).…”

A Narrative Review of Commercial Platforms Offering Tracking of Heart Rate Variability in Corporate Employees to Detect and Manage Stress

“…Interestingly, many of the tested platforms are measuring HRV at random times of day across the adult lifespan. This makes longitudinal tracking problematic, where both time of day, duration of recording and age of the participant can have variable results on HRV independent of COVID status [76,77]. There are many factors that can affect sustainability of stress-management systems implemented as part of a wellness program for an enterprise [78].…”