EFFECTS OF INITIAL STRESS LEVEL, SOCIAL SUPPORT, AND PARTICIPATION IN AN EXERCISE OR MUSIC CONDITION ON THE POSTTREATMENT STRESS, DEPRESSION, AND ANXIETY OF NURSES.
Contributors: St. John's University (New York, N.Y.)
Published: 1991
Number of pages: 338
Subjects: Psychology, General.; Health Sciences, Mental Health.
Description: The present study investigated the main and interactive effects of initial stress level, level of social support satisfaction, and participation in either an exercise, music, or waiting-list condition on the posttreatment stress, depression, and anxiety scores of nurses. Subjects were 102 female nurses stratified on the basis of their regular exercise pattern and then randomly assigned to one of three treatment groups: exercise (n = 35), music (n = 34), or waiting-list (n = 33). For 20 minutes thrice weekly, exercisers participated in an aerobic exercise of their choice and music subjects listened to music self-selected as stress reducing. Waiting-list subjects agreed to maintain their normal exercise and stress-reduction activities during the 6 week treatment period. All subjects completed self-report measures before and after the treatment period regarding trait anxiety (State-Trait Anxiety Inventory), depression (Beck Depression Inventory), stress (Perceived Stress Scale), and social support satisfaction (Social Support Questionnaire-Satisfaction Scale).

Three-way analysis of covariance procedures were employed to determine the main and interactive effects of treatment, social support satisfaction, and initial stress level on posttreatment stress, depression, and anxiety, using the pretest scores on those dependent variables as covariates. Results indicated that (a) exercise and music-listening exhibited a significant main effect on subjects' posttreatment stress level, and (b) level of social support satisfaction exhibited a significant main effect on posttreatment levels of depression and stress. No significant interaction effect was observed for any of the dependent variables and no significant main effect for initial stress level on depression or anxiety was obtained.

Although causal conclusions are not warranted, these results suggest that exercise, music, and social support may reduce stress among female nurses. The findings also suggest that social support warrants further investigation as a possible method of alleviating or preventing depression among female nurses.
Notes: Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 53-06, Section: B, page: 3144.

Thesis (ED.D.)--ST. JOHN'S UNIVERSITY (NEW YORK), 1991.

School code: 0192.