Effectiveness of a stress management program on the ability of eighth grade students to relax

Abstract

A three week stress management program was taught to 119 eighth grade students in Mt. Horeb, WI. 115 eighth grade students in Viroqua, WI served as the control group. Four measures were investigated; pulse test, self-reports of stress (SRS), self-reports of conflict (SRC), and the A-state component of Spielberger's State-Trait Anxiety Inventory for Children. Pretest to posttest, pretest to post-posttest, and posttest to post-posttest comparisons were made on all four measures. The .05 level of significance was chosen for all measures. The t-test was applied to the measures of pulse. Although the experimental group's pulses were lowered in all comparisons, the changes were not significant. The Mann-Whitney U test analyses were made for SRS, SRC, and A-state. NO significant changes were found in SRS, SRC, or the pretest to posttest and pretest to post-posttest measures of the A-state. The experimental group did have significantly lower levels of A-state in the post test to post-posttest comparison. On the basis of these results, it was recommended that further studies with this age group include a longer intervention. Recommendations for the improvement of self-report measures and recording procedures were also made.