Stress management program with self-instructional training: Effectiveness of the program and evaluation from the students

Abstract

A stress management program was conducted with junior high school students, mainly by using Selfinstructional training (SIT) and then, resulting changes in stress responses and cognitive appraisals perceived as school stress tolerance were investigated. Also, the program was evaluated through a free description questionnaire. Participants were second year junior high school students (N = 216). They were classified into an intervention group (n = 126) and a control group (n = 90). The class-scale stress management program consisting of two sessions, each of 50 minutes, was conducted with the intervention group. The results indicated that the total stress responses score, "irritated-angry feelings," as well as "helplessness" decreased in the intervention group, compared to the control group. Furthermore, "influence" of cognitive evaluation improved. The above results suggest this stress management program might be effective in junior high school students. The program was evaluated in qualitative ways. It was indicated many participants understood the content of the program and evaluated the class positively. Regarding SIT, almost all participants evaluated SIT positively and recognized the effectiveness of the technique, whereas a few participants mentioned difficulty in developing self-instructions by themselves.

The reciprocal relations between experiential avoidance, school stressor, and psychological stress response among Japanese adolescents

“…Psychological stress response involved measuring various stress-related symptoms including anger (e.g., I feel anger), depression/anxiety (e.g., I feel sad), helplessness (e.g., I can’t concentrate on my work), and physical complaints (e.g., I get tired easily). This checklist has been widely used to measure stress response in Japanese junior high school students; it has robust psychometric properties [ 22 , 23 ], and overall scores could reflect the amount of perceived stress [ 24 ]. In the present study, Cronbach’s alphas were .81 and .92 for stressor in school and psychological stress response, respectively.…”

Effectiveness of universal school-based social-emotional learning programs in promoting social-emotional skills, attitudes towards self and others, positive social behaviors, and improving emotional and conduct problems among Japanese children: a meta-analytic review

“…These findings may be attributed to the content of stress management programs, which primarily focus on SE skills related to stress management, such as self-awareness and self-management, and have less emphasis on SE skills related to social behaviors such as social awareness and relationship skills. In contrast, SST and CBT commonly focus on training both stress management and social behaviors (Tanaka et al, 2014;Yamamoto et al, 2017). These results suggest that for effective promotion of positive social behavior among children, schools may find the implementation of SST, CBT, and other programs more useful than stress management education.…”

“…SEL programs are typically delivered by teachers and mental health professionals in Japan. There are different types of universal school based SEL intervention programs currently offered in Japanese schools, including group social skills training (SST) (Harada and Watanabe, 2021), group cognitive-behavioral therapy program (Group CBT program) (Yamamoto et al, 2017), stress-management education (Tanaka et al, 2014), and other programs.…”

“…Stress management education primarily focuses on teaching selfmanagement and self-awareness skills to cope with psychological stress resulting from various stressors in daily life, such as the absence of a supportive caregiver, poverty, friendship and interpersonal difficulties, heavy academic workloads, and bullying (Okazaki and Ando, 2011;Tanaka et al, 2014). Stress management education is based on the premise that psychological stress is an inevitable and necessary component of life, and maintaining a fine balance of psychological stress can be healthy and promote physical, social, emotional, and intellectual development.…”

“…It also recognizes that how individuals cope with stress is a key determinant of long-term psychological, emotional, and physiological outcomes of stress (Takahashi and Sakano, 2010). Stress management education in Japan generally consists of 1-5 lessons on a weekly or monthly basis (Kita and Fujiwara, 2012;Taniguchi, 2013;Tanaka et al, 2014). These lessons typically include psychoeducation about stress and opportunities to develop stress-coping skills informed by CBT and SST, such as cognitive restructuring, problem-solving skills, relaxation techniques (e.g., muscle relaxation and breathing), social awareness, and self-awareness (Kita and Fujiwara, 2012;Taniguchi, 2013;Tanaka et al, 2014).…”