Document Type

Thesis

Date of Degree Completion

Summer 2014

Degree Name

Master of Science (MS)

Department

Experimental Psychology

Committee Chair

Sadie Lovett

Second Committee Member

Susan Lonborg

Third Committee Member

Terrence Schwartz

Abstract

Stress can have maladaptive effects on health and academic performance. This study examined the effectiveness of teaching Behavioral Relaxation Training (BRT) as a stress management technique for graduate students. BRT is a form of relaxation training that teaches individuals 10 relaxed behaviors to use when experiencing distressing emotions. A concurrent multiple probe design across four participants was used in conjunction with pretest and follow-up scores from the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS). Following baseline probes, participants received two BRT training sessions focusing on acquisition and proficiency of relaxed body postures. Results revealed that after BRT training all participants achieved greater than 80% relaxed postures across three posttest sessions. Social validity measures also showed participants evaluated BRT as an effective tool for stress management.

Comments

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