Skill Development - Managing Personal Stress - Assignment Example

Managing Personal Stress PART A Student Name Student Number Lecturer, Date Name of the Institution Contents PART A Article Review 3 Introduction 3 Context 3 Methodology 5 Sample and procedure 5 Data Collection 6 Measurement 7 Data Analysis 8 Limitations of the study 8 Conclusion 9 PART B. Implementation and Reflection 11 Reference List 14 Appendices 15 16 PART A Article Review Introduction Following the adverse effects of stress on the life of an individual, the importance of stress management cannot be objected. Stress reduction is important for the overall health of a person, and it can boost immune function, improve mood, allow one to be productive and promote longevity. Stress exposes one to various risks including development of illnesses such as sever heart disease. The impact of stress on the well-being of an individual is very important because it a natural response that I the brain activate. This paper will review three articles on stress and stress management. These articles include: (i) Student Well-Being Interventions: The Effects of Stress Management Techniques and Gratitude Journaling in the Management Education Classroom by Carol Flinchbaugh1, Whitney Moore1, Young Chang1, and Douglas May1, (ii) Stress management interventions in the workplace improve stress reactivity: a randomised controlled trial by Heribert Limm, Harald Gündel, Mechthild Heinmüller, Birgitt Marten-Mittag, Urs M Nater, Johannes Siegrist and Peter Angerer, and (iii) Effects of a brief worksite stress management program on coping skills, psychological distress and physical complaints: a controlled trial by Akihito Shimazu, Rino Umanodan Wilmar B. Schaufeli. The common keywords used in selecting the articles are stress management and stress management techniques. Context Both articles focus on stress management techniques and interventions and their effects on different areas. However, they are presented in different contexts: university and workplace. Carol, Whitney, Young and Douglas in their article assert that both managers and educators are concerned about the well-being of management students. They investigate whether dimensions of student well-being could be influenced by the purposeful semester-long classroom interventions. Students in the gratitude journaling treatment and combined invention engaged more in the classroom by the end of the semester. Heribert Limm, Harald Gündel and their colleagues focused on employees in the work place examining the long-term effects of stress management interventions based on the model of effort-reward imbalance on biological and psychological respond to work stress. They reported that occupational stress was a major risk factor to health outcomes of employees. Intervention of stress management based on the effort-reward imbalance mode of work stress reduced biological stress indices and perceived stress reactivity. This study provides managers with measures to reduce stress in the work place. It encourages the use of stress management interventions to be encouraged I the workplaces to prevent diseases caused by work stress. Just like the previous researchers, Akihito Shimazu, Rino Umanodan Wilmar B. Schaufeli focused on the work place by investigating the effects of worksite stress management program such as single session on coping skills, physical and psychological distress and knowledge about stress. They assert that single-session stress management program is effective in improving coping skills, and knowledge about stress. This a good study that adds value to the world of research of stress management in the work place. Methodology Sample and procedure Participants in Carol, Whitney, Young and Douglas’s were 117 undergraduate business majors enrolled in organizational behavior in a university in Midwestern. The study included four management course sections. The sections were selected based on the willingness of individual instructor to participate in the study and to conduct one of the treatments in her or his course throughout the semester. The majority of participants were male (59%). Caucasian was 83%, Asian 13%, African American (2%) and Hispanic (2%). Graduates were 1%, seniors (15%), juniors (51%) and sophomores (34%). The students’ age frequencies were as follows: older than 30 years (1%), 25 years (3%), 24 years (3%), 23 years (7%), 20 years (22%), 22 years (29%), and 21 years (34%). The sample was fair enough putting in mind that it was based on the willingness of a course instructor to participate in the study for the whole semester. Heribert Limm, Harald Gündel and their colleagues involved 174 lower and middle management employees who were randomly assigned to a waiting or randomly assigned to a control group. The majority of the participants were male (99%). The programme involved group sessions of 24x45 min for two full days followed by other two sessions of 4x45 min within the following 8 months, on work stress situations of an individual. The high number of male participants (99%) is a concern with one left wondering why the low number of female participants (1%). Though one it is understandable that the study was taken in a manufacturing firm that has many men than women because of the nature of the work. The participants in Akihito Shimazu, Rino Umanodan and Wilmar Schaufeli’s study were 300 employees from a western Japan company. 149 of the participants were assigned to an intervention while 151 were assigned to a waiting list control group. A small-group stress management program was given to intervention group. Researchers of this study used the same procedure as Heribert Limm, Harald Gündel and their colleagues. However, they failed to provide more information on the number of male and female participants, race and age. Data Collection In the Carol, Whitney, Young and Douglas’s study the control group data was collected through pre-and post-test surveys conducted both at the beginning and end of the semester. In the treatment condition group data was collected in gratitude journals where completed by 12 weeks under the instructions of their instructor. The researcher does not clearly provide how data was collected in the stress management training. Therefore, a pilot study should be taken in future to select specific techniques of stress management. Data in the research study of Heribert Limm, Harald Gündel and their colleagues was collected using short questionnaire for work analysis and medical forms were used to fill the result of blood samples taken daily. The explanation on how data collection was done is very confusing to a reader. In the Akihito Shimazu, Rino Umanodan and Wilmar Schaufeli’s study data was collected using questionnaires. However, they did not explain how they were administered. In future, they should explain this in detail. Measurement In the Carol, Whitney, Young and Douglas’s study measures of classroom-specific stress, life satisfaction, engagement, and meaningfulness were included in the pre- and post-semester surveys. All scales were rated on a 7-point Likert-type scale (7= strongly disagree, 1=strongly agree). To measure the classroom-specific stress level of students, meaningfulness in a class setting, student’s level of engagement in the course, and ten items were adapted. In the study of Heribert Limm, Harald Gündel and their colleagues, 29-item Stress Reactivity Scale (SRS) was used to measure self-reported stress reactivity. Effort-reward imbalance model was measured with a questionnaire containing three scales: 11 items of reward, six items for effort, and six items for over commitment. Salivary cortisol levels were used to measure biological stress indices, which acted as an indicator of hypothalamic –pituitary-adrenal axis activity. In the Akihito Shimazu, Rino Umanodan and Wilmar Schaufeli’s study data was measured by questionnaires where questions and scales were used. Five items were used to assess knowledge where a right answer was given a score of 1 and high scores indicated a high level of knowledge. Brief Scales for Coping Profile were used to measure coping skills. It included six subscales and eighteen items ranging from “1=almost never” to “4= very often”. Brief Job Stress Questionnaire subscales were used to assess psychological distress, physical complaints and job control. Both the studies of Heribert Limm, Harald Gündel and their colleagues, and Akihito Shimazu, Rino Umanodan and Wilmar Schaufeli have comprehensive measurements that validate their results. Data Analysis Data analysis in the Carol, Whitney, Young and Douglas’s study was done using confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). This was a good choice to verify the scale items load on the construct identified. Significant differences across treatment conditions were examined by use of one-way analysis of covariance (ANCOVA). Heribert Limm, Harald Gündel and their colleagues chose statistical analyses to analyze data. Sample size estimation was made on a basis of SRS total score. A difference of 5 SRS score points was presumed to be relevant, a significance level of 0.05, a power of 0.8 and 10 score points of a standard deviation which resulted in an a sample size of (n=64) for each group. This analysis method was ideal for the study as it increased the chances of having accurate results. Shimazu, Rino Umanodan and Wilmar Schaufeli followed in the footsteps of Heribert Limm, Harald Gündel and their colleagues, by using statistical analysis in their study. This enabled the investigation of the effect of intervention to take place by calculating the changing scores in outcome of variables. This was done through subtracting T1 scores from T2 and examined the difference in the score using analyses of covariance (ANCOVA). This method increased the chances of having accurate results. Limitations of the study Carol, Whitney, Young and Douglas study has several limitations. The observation levels in some of the dependent variables such as stress may have been influenced by the measurements timing during the semester. It is normal for workload to be more towards the end of a school semester, therefore some kind of stress is guaranteed. Future studies may wish to focus on measuring stress levels during the last weeks of classes. Unequal and relatively small sample sizes within each classroom limited the study which by affecting the ability to detect treatment conditions significance differences. Heribert Limm, Harald Gündel and their colleagues have not provided limitations to the study. Every study has limitations and failure to provide information in this area shows that there research was perfect, something that is not true. Shimazu, Rino Umanodan and Wilmar Schaufeli’s study have several limitations. The results could have been affected by the use of self-reported outcome measures, short follow-up period, and the use of only white-collar employees as participants. The results could also have been affected by non-randomization and non-blinded trial. Conclusion Carol, Whitney, Young and Douglas suggested that a combination of gratitude journaling and stress management techniques is the most effective approach to increase the levels of students’ engagement and meaningfulness in their courses. Gratitude journaling may help people to clarify and recognize what is important to them, but it works best with interventions whose purpose is to lower negative stress in their lives. Future research studies should focus on daily gratitude interventions in the classroom and how it enhances classroom meaningfulness. Heribert Limm, Harald Gündel and their colleagues used cognitive behavioural techniques to deal with factors contribution to low reward and high effort at work. The approach produced favourable physiological and behavioural effects. The researchers suggest that to prevent stress improvement of working conditions should be the primary goal. The approach is a promising tool that can be used in an increased work pressure to reduced work stress. Shimazu, Rino Umanodan and Wilmar Schaufeli concluded in their study that to improve coping skills and knowledge about stress, where the effect of the program on psychological distress was moderated by job control, the effective approach is single-session stress management program. Jobs with low control should have an intervention program accompanied by cognitive-behavioural interventions if the aim is increasing control. Organizations can reduce stress in the workplace successfully by combination of approaches that focus on both individuals and organizations. Building relationships by communicating supportively PART B Student Name Student Number Lecturer, Date Name of the Institution PART B. Implementation and Reflection From the topic of managing stress I learnt that it is the willingness of individuals to take an honest look at them marks the beginning of managing stress successfully. The outside events that affect people remove them from a position of control, although situations and people contribute to stress. Usually it is easy to blame stress on situations or people that cannot be controlled by people. Therefore, it is more effective to manage stress than to reduce it. It is because of this that made me push myself out towards achieving skills for managing personal stress. The goals I set to achieve in my skills development plan were (i) to be able to tackle problems effectively to avoid stress build up by the end of week three, (ii) to take care of my body in order to eliminate stress by the third week, and (iii) to deal effectively with my emotions in order to avoid stress by week three. My friends were demanding time to spend with me and they felt that I am not creating time for them. Their wining had gotten into my nerves that I walked away annoyed because I felt that they didn’t understand my busy schedule. Talking about a busy schedule, my classes are sometimes back to back and the individual and group assignments submission dates were close to each other. Not forgetting that I had to attend different group assignments discussion sessions, which needed time. In an attempt to do everything at the same time my mind clogged and I froze. I could not get anything going because of anxiety and anger was building in me. Something small irritated me and I was not interesting to hung around with. I had to do something to calm down and stay focus. I realized I was stressed and tried to identify what exactly was stressing me. The problem was lack of understanding from my friends, many assignments with a close deadline and group sessions that needed my contribution. I decided to calm down and work on one problem at a time. I made a list of assignment according to their timelines and prioritized them. I also decided to avoid stress where possible. Everyone has stress but I chose to stay away from things that stress me out. I avoided certain friends who were negative about everything and did not understand. I also avoided noisy places that disturbed my concentration. I realized that there are things I cannot fix but were taking some of my energy in terms of worry. I decided to let go off trying to convince my friend to understand my situation. I was a group leader of two groups and so I decided to let go off being a leader of one group so that I can fully concentrate on other assignments. By the end of week three I was able to tackle problems effectively to some extent and avoided stress. The importance of physical exercises in eliminating stress cannot be overemphasized, though I always have a hard time involving in vigorous activities. I don’t have any problem that may be triggered by physical exercises, it is just pure laziness, but I was willing to get rid of that as soon as possible. I made a choice to work out my body for at least fifteen to twenty minutes per day until I gained momentum to do more. I know people stay in shape and deal better with stress when they have strong bodies and that was my target. I decided to be walking, jogging or doing aerobics early in the morning or in the evening after classes in order to concentrate better. I committed to twenty five minutes of exercises daily. It was not an easy thing because in the beginning I could not complete twenty minutes but day by day I improved. I realized that when I got stressed or worried I was able to calm down through hard physical exercises. Usually I am on the move and there is always something on my mind. I tried some active relaxation techniques to relax my body. I tried deep breathing, meditation, and taking long and warm showers. I thought it was funny for meditation because I kept on struggling at first and I laughed at myself every time I lost concentration and moved my thought to thinking other things. Besides engaging in good physical exercises I committed to also eating well because stress can be dealt better with a healthy body. More often I rush to class in the morning without taking a bite. I made a few changes such as eating a good breakfast, drinking more water, eating more fruits and whole grain foods. I therefore had to create time by waking up a bit early to having a good breakfast instead of rushing through. I have problems sleeping early and most of the time I go to bed at almost mid-night. Since I have to get up early I end up not having enough sleep. I believe another better way of dealing with stress is having a good night’s sleep. I decided to be getting to bed latest by ten o’clock at night and avoid chatting on my phone till late. I am not yet there but I have tried stick to it. In order to manage emotions one needs to take instant vacations, something that seems to be a vocabulary to me. My hands are always full and the need to escape problems for a while seemed foreign. Since I was taking a challenge, I decided to try by watching television, taking a warm bath, and listen to music. I would have a loved to take a mini vacation but I will consider that ones the semester comes to an end. One of my strength is letting go what is inside me than let it build up. In most cases I pray to gain strength and write my thoughts in a journal. This time round I decided to try new ways such as talk to a close friend who could give an advice, meditate, laugh more and get organized by making lists. I can confidently say that I achieved my goals to a big percentage. I may not have reached fully where I am supposed to be but at least I am not where I was. It is a journey that will involve making mistakes and learning from them. I like a new challenge and this is what motivated me most. Trying something I have never done before is scary but exciting at the same time. I am always open minded looking forward to what I can contribute to and get from that challenge. I learnt that Reference List Flinchbaugh1, CL, Whitney, GM, Chang, YK and May, DR 2012, Student Well-Being Interventions: The Effects of Stress Management Techniques and Gratitude Journaling in the Management Education Classroom. Journal of Management Education, vol 36, no. 2, pp. 191-219 Shimazu, A., Umanodan, R & Schaufeli, WB 2006, Effects of a brief worksite stress management program on coping skills, psychological distress and physical complaints: a controlled trial. Int Arch Occup Environ Health, vol 80, no.1, pp60–69 Limm, H, Gundel, H, Heinmuller, M, Marten-Mittag, B, Nater, UM, Siegrist, J & Angerer, P 2011, Stress management interventions in the workplace improve stress reactivity: a randomised controlled trial. Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Vol. 68, No. 2, pp. 126-133 Appendices Appendix A: Skills Development Plan Appendix B- Timeline for Implementing my Skills Development Read More