Sergio Azzara

Psychological and Physiological Response of Students to Different Types of Stress Management Programs

Purpose. To design, implement, and examine the psychoneuroendocrine responses of three different types of stress management programs. Design. Randomly assigned. A pre/post experimental design comparing variables between three different programs and a control group. The first program included training in deep breathing, relaxation response, meditation, and guided imagery techniques (RRGI). The second program included training in cognitive behavioral techniques (CB). The third program included both RRGI and CB (RRGICB). Setting. The study was conducted at Buenos Aires University. Subjects. Participants (N = 52) were undergraduate students. Measures. Anxiety, anger, hopelessness, neuroticism, respiration rate, and salivary cortisol levels were assessed. Analysis. Wilcoxon signed rank test was used to investigate differences in pre and post variables. Results. Subjects in the RRGI group showed significantly lower levels of anxiety (p < .011), anger (p < .012), neuroticism (p < .01), respiratory rate (p < .002), hopelessness (p < .01), and salivary cortisol (p < .002) after the treatment. Subjects in the CB group showed significantly lower levels of anxiety (p < .018), anger (p < .037), and neuroticism (p < .03) after the treatment. Subjects in the RRGICB group showed significantly lower levels of anxiety (p < .001), anger (p < .001), neuroticism (p < .008), hopelessness (p < .01), respiratory rate (p < .001), and salivary cortisol (p < .002) after the treatment. Subjects in the control group showed only one variable modification, a significant increase in cortisol levels (p < .004). Conclusions. The combination of deep breathing, relaxation response, meditation, and guided imagery techniques with CB seems to be effective at helping people to deal with stress.

Hair cortisol: A new tool for evaluating stress in programs of stress management.

AIMS Longitudinal and experimental studies have shown that chronic stress contributes to the onset and progression of different diseases. Although it is not possible to eliminate stress completely, people can learn to manage it by participating in different kinds of stress management interventions. This study examined the effectiveness of stress management interventions on neuroendocrine responses in stressed students and health professionals, by measuring hair cortisol in comparison to salivary cortisol. MAIN METHODS Salivary and hair cortisol measurements were performed in 37 subjects (31women, 6 men; mean age 34.0±10.6) who attended to a Coping Stress and Quality of Care Program at the University of Buenos Aires. Cortisol was measured at the beginning and at the end of the program. The State-Trait Anxiety Inventory STAI was used to evaluate state and trait anxiety. KEY FINDINGS In subjects who completed the program, no differences were observed in salivary cortisol levels between the first and the last session. However, in these subjects, hair cortisol obtained in the last session was significantly lower than hair cortisol in the first session. SIGNIFICANCE Hair cortisol appears to be a better biomarker than salivary cortisol for evaluation of the effectiveness of a stress reduction program and it seems to be a better indicator of stress system dysregulation as well.

EFFECTS OF BELIEFS ABOUT THE CONSEQUENCES OF THE HYPERTENSION ON ATTENTION CAPACITIES: PP.23.440

Background: The close relation between cardiovascular disorders and cognitive impairment, coupled with the incidence that the hypertensive patients’ beliefs have about their disease, led us to pose a possible association between such beliefs and tasks that require a high attention commitment Objective: The goal of the study is to analyze the relation between the beliefs regarding the hypertension (HTA) and the attention capacities, the latter as part of the assessment of cognitive impairment. Design: Cross-sectional correlational study. Methods: We evaluated 18 hypertensive patients (10 women and 8 men) with an average age of 71 years (± 10). The cognitive commitment was assessed with the Trial Making Test (TMT) Sections A and B, while the evaluation of beliefs about the HTA was carried out with the Revised Illness Perception Questionnaire (IPQ-R). Results: A significant correlation was found between the IPQ-R variable “subjective perception of the consequences of the HTA” and the performance on the TMT Section A (r = 0.57; p < .01). Those who perceived greater negative consequences for suffering HTA (high values in the variable consequences of the HTA) showed a better performance in the TMT Section A. In a stepwise linear regression analysis, controlling variable age, from all the factors that the IPQ-R evaluates, the variable consequences of the HTA was the only predictor of the test performance (F = 6.8; p <,02) explaining 33% of the variability in this task (see Figure 1). No significant association was found between the variable consequences of the HTA and the TMT Section B. Conclusion: This study shows the relationship between the subjective perception of the consequences of the HTA and attention capacities. Perceptions more adjusted to reality could be promoting a better adherence to treatment with the subsequent normalization of blood pressure. In addition, this study provides preliminary information regarding to psychological factors could influence the development of the HTA, constituting a new issue to be added to the already known risk factors. Figure 1. No caption available.