View clinical trials related to Stress.
Filter by:Theory and research on the gut-brain-axis emphasize complex interactions between the gut microbiota, immunological and hormonal responses, brain function, brain structure, as well as resulting behavioral manifestations, such as cognitive functions and mental illness. Probiotics are living micro-organisms that change the composition of the gut microbiota and hypothetically have a positive effect on the host's general health and well-being. Probiotic bacteria naturally occur in foods such as Sauerkraut, olives, and dark chocolate, and are currently also added to industrial products such as yogurt. Regarding the effect of probiotics on brain structure and function, animal studies have shown that the administration of probiotics in mice and rats was linked to neurogenesis in the hippocampus and an improvement of associated cognitive functions. The majority of these studies applied probiotics for 4 weeks. The substances used in these studies were often composed of several bacterial strains, suggesting that the neurogenic effect may not be reducible to a specific type of probiotic bacteria. Probiotics seem to be effective in improving memory abilities, including spatial and non-spatial memory, both in rodents and humans. Moreover, specifically regarding the beneficial effect of probiotics on anxiety, depression and stress, preliminary evidence in humans is compelling. However methodologically sound (randomized-controlled trial [RCT], 'blind') studies are still lacking. To sum up, the present study is going to be the first RCT with human participants that investigates structural and functional changes of the hippocampus through probiotic bacteria, using Magnet Resonance Imaging (MRI). In addition, the study aims at advancing research in the field by investigating the effects of probiotics on a broad spectrum of cognitive functions, particularly those associated with hippocampal activity (e.g. spatial memory, verbal memory). Furthermore, effects on several types of mental illness (e.g. anxiety, depression, stress) will be studied. Potential translatory mechanisms that may promote the aforementioned effects will be examined, i.e. changes in immunological parameters, 'brain derived neurotrophic factor' (BDNF), and oxytocin.
Stroke survivors and their family caregivers often experience stress, anxiety, and depression. The psychological wellbeing of stroke survivors and family caregivers is thought to be interconnected and can have an important role to play in rehabilitation outcomes. Mindfulness meditation can help improve psychological wellbeing, but it often involves people attending groups by themselves and engagement can be poor. One solution is for stroke survivors and family caregivers to learn mindfulness meditation together online. This study aims to explore the feasibility, appropriateness, meaningfulness, and effectiveness of mindfulness meditation delivered online for stroke survivor and family caregiver partnerships.
Stress affects the health and is prevalent among medicine and pharmacy students. A number of factors such as busy schedules, course load and lack of recreational time during semesters as well as exams, have been reported to be associated with stress. Study reports that the use of aroma oils especially those with relaxant properties can alleviate the level of stress. This study aims to investigate the effects of aroma oils in stress during exams in pharmacy students.
The primary objective of the Resilience Study is to determine the impact of the Corporate Athlete® Resilience product through recalibrating mindset and changing resilience supportive behavior. Analysis will be performed via Survey and Study Interviews (two methods) to determine how the CAR Training recalibrated and impacted the Research Participants mindset and resilience state. 1. Tool: Stress Mindset Measure-General (SMM-G) Additional analysis will evaluate participants' engagement in behavior changes in the first 30 days. 2. Tool: Energy Management Behaviors. Secondary objectives include further analysis to determine if the intervention group demonstrated significant improvements in the following measures: 1. Brief Resilience Scale (BRS) 2. Public Health Surveillance Wellbeing (PHS-WB) 3. Sleep Habits (Rand MOS) 4. Health, Wellbeing and Productivity (SF36, HPQ) 5. Work Productivity and Activity Impairment (WPAI) 6. Brief Cope 7. Perceived Stress (PSS) In addition, demographic assessments will be collected.
This is a pilot study to test the effects of the SMART-3RP (Stress Management and Resiliency Training Relaxation Response Resiliency Program) on quality of life, mental health, arrhythmia burden, and heart rate variability (HRV) in patients with paroxysmal atrial fibrillation (PAF).
The prevalence of adolescent depression is steadily rising in the U.S., especially among adolescent girls. Currently 20% of adolescent girls experience major depression compared with 6% of boys (National Institute of Mental Health, 2016). The profound gender disparity in depression that emerges at puberty, but not before, implicates a role of ovarian steroid hormones in promoting affective (mood) symptoms in adolescent girls. In addition to dramatic physical maturation and a rapidly changing reproductive hormone environment at puberty, adolescence is also a time of exposure to substantial psychosocial stress, particularly in girls. It is well documented that stress interferes with the maturation of neurodevelopmental trajectories and is a critical precipitating factor in the pathway to psychopathology. However, the neuropathophysiological mechanisms linking stress exposure and sensitivity to ovarian hormone fluctuations at puberty to the onset and maintenance of depression symptoms in adolescence have yet to be elucidated, and is the purpose of this research.
The investigators hypothesize that walking on a nature trail will lead to greater reductions in stress and greater improvements in the capacity to direct attention as compared to walking on a suburban sidewalk. The effects of walking in these different locations will be measured using physiological and psychological outcomes. The study design is a randomized with-in person cross-over trial. Subjects will take six 50-minute walks, one walk per week for six weeks. Three walks will occur in the urban setting and three in the nature setting. The order of the conditions will be randomly assigned to each subject, so that half of the subjects will complete the urban walks first and half the subjects will complete the nature walks first. There will be a two-week washout period between the two sets of walks. Day of the week will be fixed within person, and walks will occur during the mild weather months. In the case of inclement weather, the weekly walk will be skipped and an additional week will be added to the schedule. Limiting the frequency to one walk per week maximizes feasibility of the protocol and minimizes training effects, with any training effects over time being handled primarily by randomization (condition order is balanced), but also in the statistical analysis.
Some educational researchers deliberately induce stress upon learners to in order to enhance retention; this practice is controversial and its utility must be weighed against the negative emotional effects it may have on participants. In this study we investigate the effect of the unexpected death of a simulation mannequin on the retention of non-technical and technical crisis resource management skills and consider the emotional impact of this acute stressor.
This study aims to evaluate the benefits of yoga as a 'mind-body' practice, by measuring it's effects on health-related psychological and physiological variables. The study also aims to investigate whether an association exists between subjective (psychological) and objective (physiological) measures, with a particular focus on stress as the primary outcome.
Approximately 13%-20% of children living in the United States experience a mental health problem in any given year. Youth with mental illness have difficulty in social settings and have poor academic performance that place them at risk for increased stress and poor mental health outcomes. Stress typically manifests as depression, anxiety, or behavioral issues that lead to increasingly complex treatment with psychotropic medication. It would follow that reducing stress may be a way to improve psychological well being, prevent poor mental health outcomes, and hopefully avoid the need for psychotropic medication. Mindfulness teaching is a potentially powerful tool for adolescents because it focuses on reducing stress. Thus far, studies have not engaged adolescents in developing a patient-centered approach to mindfulness Interventions. The current project would be a significant contribution to clinical practice and the scientific evidence for mindfulness interventions. This research targets psychological well-being within a vulnerable adolescent population that is generally underrepresented in research. The research outcomes will be useful to healthcare providers, educators, and parents/families in encouraging optimal outcomes for adolescents. The overall goals of this proposed research project are to develop and assess the feasibility of an adolescent-developed mindfulness intervention.