View clinical trials related to Stress, Physiological.
Filter by:Chronic widespread pain (CWP) is a common chronic pain condition in youth and often associated with significant pain-related and psychosocial impairment. Understanding the neurobiological mechanisms that may underlie pediatric chronic pain and pain-related impairment can inform future treatments to ameliorate patients' suffering, making it a critical area of empirical investigation.
The objective of this study, named THRIVE (The Research In Virtual Environments Study), is to test hypotheses for how neighborhood environments influence stress and emotion, as a mechanism by which they may influence health. Neighborhood environments may have both acute influences on stress-related processes, but also may have lifespan effects due to the chronic, cumulative effects of repeated exposures and the long-term toll of adapting to adverse neighborhood environments. However, assessing neighborhood influences on stress and emotion is methodologically challenging. This study develops such a novel, alternative approach to address these questions by deploying a virtual reality (VR) based model of neighborhood disadvantage and affluence that creates an immersive experience approximating the experience of being in different neighborhoods. In this study, this model will be applied to understand neighborhood effects in a diverse sample of adolescents (n = 130) from a range of disadvantaged and affluent neighborhoods. The proposed study will employ a randomized experiment (n = 65 per condition), with online questionnaires and a single study session, to determine (a) if virtual exposure to neighborhood disadvantage elicits differences in emotion and stress reactivity; (2) if growing up in a disadvantaged neighborhood results in habituation or sensitization to different neighborhood characteristics; and (3) if chronic stress results in habituation or sensitization to different neighborhood characteristics. This research will develop an innovative methodology that will help establish the role that neighborhoods may play in eliciting stress as well as the processes of adaptation to chronic stress and chronic neighborhood exposures. In addition, it will help establish a method that can be utilized more broadly to study contextual and social environmental influences on psychological and biological risk in adolescence.
Objective: To investigate the effect of aromatherapy on blood pressure and stress response by inhalation and foot massage in individuals with essential hypertension. Methods: The randomized controlled trial is performed with 69 individuals diagnosed with essential hypertension hospitalized. There are two interventions (group 1: aromatherapy-inhalation method, group 2: aromatherapy-foot massage) and a control group in the study. Blood pressure is measured with a digital sphygmomanometer after 10 minutes of rest; stress response is determined by heart rate, blood cortisol levels and anxiety scale. Aromatherapy with lavender oil is applied to the intervention groups; no application is made to the control group and routine follow-up at the hospital continued.
Goal: The long-term goal of the proposed research program is to test the effectiveness of a preventative behavioral intervention and to scale it up for use with broader immigrant populations to reduce stress and mental health disorders. Intervention: This study plan to adapt the World Health Organization developed Problem Management Plus (PMP), an evidence based, multi-component, behavioral intervention including breathing, problem solving, behavioral activation, and social support for immigrants. Hypothesis: Immigrants in the Problem Management Plus for Immigrants (PMP-I) will have significantly lower levels of stress and anxious/depressive symptoms as compared to immigrants in the talk program with Community Support Service pamphlets (CSS). Objective: The current study aims to pilot test the feasibility and acceptability of PMP-I among Bhutanese immigrants 18 years and older living in the Massachusetts.
High fidelity simulation (HFS) is an established method of training in various fields of medicine, especially emergency medicine, anesthesiology and intensive therapy. One of the benefits of HFS as an educational tool is the protective environment, where the risk of error do not bring harm to the patients. It is proven that HFS is successful in acquisition of new knowledge and skills and may facilitate positive behavioral change in medical students. However, this education method may cause elevated stress levels as well as other physiological reactions. Other than sympathetic nervous system reactions such as heart rate and blood pressure, there are a few laboratory stress level markers such as cortisol, alpha-amylase, testosterone and secretory immunoglobulin A. Our aim was to evaluate the change of stress level induced by high-fidelity simulation in medical students.
The harmful effects of stress on health professionals are expressed both in terms of their health (physical or mental) and the quality of work (reduced memory capacity, deterioration in patient care). These adverse effects highlight the importance of implementing effective coping strategies and/or early learning of stress management methods in medical training programs. Relaxation breathing techniques coupled with heart rate variability (HRV) biofeedback is one of the new techniques used to reduce the stress level. No research has yet tested the effects of HRV induced by relaxation breathing technique before managing a simulated critical situation.
Stress is a complex natural phenomenon, frequently related to a physiological response, including heart rate, heart rate variability, respiratory rate, skin conductance and temperature. The subjective experience varies greatly; broadly, it may be conceived as a freeze, flight, fight, fright or faint response. Many studies have demonstrated the negative influence of psychological stress on health and well-being. Through the digital phenotyping of physiological and psychological stress reactions, in a controlled laboratory setting (Trier Social Stress Test- TSST) and real-life situations, in a population of healthy participants and patients with a major psychiatric disorder, we expect to find reliable and valid digital biomarkers. The results of this study will, therefore, not only contribute to a better understanding of stress and stress response but also have the potential to improve diagnostic and treatment approaches.
The primary aim of this study is to assess the feasibility of an intervention to reduce and break up prolonged sitting time in full-time police staff. The secondary aims of this study are to assess preliminary effects on patterns of sedentary behaviour (number of breaks, number of prolonged sitting bouts, average duration of prolonged sitting bouts, and total prolonged sitting duration), additional measures of sedentary behaviour (total sitting time, standing, and stepping), cardiometabolic risk markers, physiological stress (cortisol levels), physical health (self-report and postural stability), psychological wellbeing and mood, work stress (self-reported), and work performance (job satisfaction and productivity).
The study will examine changes in acute stress (biological and psychological) via salivary cortisol and alpha amylase levels as well as survey measures of self-reported anxiety in response to either (a) a free online guided mindfulness meditation available at (https://www.uclahealth.org/marc/mindful-meditations); (b) a guided mindfulness meditation via virtual reality (https://guidedmeditationvr.com/) or (c) a virtual reality platform of historic photographs and written narratives (https://lookingglassvr.com/). Participants will also complete an interviewer administered survey to measure sociodemographic factors, mental and physical health status, substance use, and medication use and provide a hair sample to measure cortisol.
Purpose: The investigators hypothesize that exposure to chronic environmental stress is a risk factor for adverse pregnancy outcomes related to preterm birth and preeclampsia among high-risk pregnant women. Additionally, the investigators hypothesize that women can be screened for high levels of environmental stress through the perceived stress scale, and therapeutic writing can be used as a low-resource intervention to help decrease maternal perceived stress and inflammation - measured through analysis of maternal serum and placental samples. Participants: Pregnant women at high risk for adverse pregnancy outcomes, including pre-eclampsia and preterm birth, enrolled in prenatal care at UNC will be recruited for participation Procedures: Using results from the perceived stress scale, the investigators will identify women who screen positive for high environmental stress. Women meeting inclusion criteria will be contacted for possible participation at regularly scheduled prenatal visits. Women who are enrolled will be randomized to generalized writing prompts, therapeutic writing prompts, or no writing during their pregnancy to be administered at each prenatal visit. Maternal blood sample for biochemical markers of stress and gene expression will be obtained at the initial visit; a followup blood sample will be obtained later in pregnancy, and a small portion of the placenta saved at delivery. Delivery outcomes will be obtained through medical record review.