Evaluating the effectiveness of a stress management training on teachers and physicians’ stress related outcomes

Abstract

This study investigated the immediate influence of a stress-management training on teachers and physicians' stress-related outcomes (emotional exhaustion, work distress and irrational beliefs), using meta-analytic techniques. In an action-research perspective, the stress-management training program was implemented in several groups of physicians and teachers in Portugal and in Brazil (n = 144). It was found that in all the samples where this intervention was implemented a decrease on stress-related outcomes occurred; nevertheless not all results obtained were statistically significant. The largest impact of the implemented training program was on the irrational beliefs, with a medium effect size (d+ = 0.61). These results suggest the short-term benefits of this intervention on teachers and physicians stress.