Individual Stress Test Solutions

Solutions To Cope More Effectively

We hope you have your results from the completed Stress Test.

Looking at your score you may find it useful to check out our helpful summaries which include strategies to maintain and further improve your wellbeing.

Click on your Score below to find out more.

Below is some research into lifestyle choices and how they effect stress levels. Check out these ways to adapt your lifestyle to cope more effectively with stressors and challenges in your life!

Taking time to do things your enjoy

Thackray (1981) found that boredom during a period of high stress levels elicits considerable stress.
Building on this Newman and Stone (1996) found that humour and laughing was correlated with lower levels of stress. This suggests that humour is an effective coping strategy.
Parasuraman and Purohit (2000) found that boredom acted as a stressor which affected their performance.

Some suggestions to help reduce the effects of boredom are: taking up a hobby or going out with friends or family be spontaneous.

Mindfulness

Research by Lanager (1989) found that being mindful and open to surprises, understanding our current states and orientated in the present moment reduces stress levels. Building on this Baer (2003) found that when using the skills described by Lanager (1989) people were able to cope with stress more effectively.
Research by Carlson, et al. (2003) found that taking time for yourself using mindfulness based practices reduced stressors and increased overall quality of life. Building on this Grossman (2004) found mindfulness based practices and taking time to focus on the present was found to increase coping with a variety of issues. Furthermore, Nyklíček, I., & Kuijpers (2008) found that mindfulness practices such as taking time for yourself to reflect reduced perceived stress.

Some suggestions to help with this are: try mindful exercises such as breathing on your commute home or before you go to bed, read a book or go for a walk.

Reacting to stress

Research by Ashford (1988) found that when people faced ambiguity trying to gather knowledge increased stress levels. Building on this Hobfoll (1989) found that found that a coping strategy uses cognitive resources. When these are depleted coping strategies fail resulting In stress. In addition Hockey (1997) found that high demands and lack of resources results in a depletion of cognitive resources resulting in strain. Furthermore, Romero and Butler (2007) found that Selye’s (1946) model of the stages of stress was still apparent.

Some suggestions to help with this are: finding support resources you can access e.g. Samaritans, GP and employee support resources from your work. Also it would help to find support networks that you can use to help deal with pressure. In addition talk to family and friends for help and support will help.

Nutrition

According to Oliver, Wardle and Gibson (2000) people with higher stress levels tend to want sweeter, high fat and more energy dense meals than unstressed eaters. In addition according to Takeda et al (2004) people who are suffering from stress are more likely to night eat compared to those who are less stressed. Furthermore Zellner et al (2006) found that stressed individuals tended to go for high fat foods. These foods were eaten to allow a person to feel better. Building on this Martyn-Nemeth et al (2009) found that unhealthy eating was a poor coping strategy to stress. This often resulted in low self-esteem and a higher risk of depression.

One way of coping with this is to find alternatives to reach for when you are feeling hungry due to stress. These may be to eat sugary fruit and drink more water. Using these techniques will help to reduce the amount of high fat/sweeter energy packed foods and help creative effective stress coping strategies.

Exercise

Research by Rostad and Long (1996) found that people who incorporated exercise into their lifestyles had a lower stress level than those who didn’t. It was also found that these benefits were long term. Building on this, Scully et al (1998) found that people who used high intensity aerobic exercise were less stressed compared to those who didn’t. It was also found that those who used intensive exercise had anxiety, depression and hostility. Furthermore, Maltby and Day (2001) found that people who exercised regularly for over 6 months had a higher psychological wellbeing and lower stress levels than those who exercised for under 6 months or did not exercise on a regular basis.
In addition Gerber et al (2010) found that higher levels of fitness protected against stress related health problems. In addition moderate exercise was found to counteract stress more than vigorous exercise.
Some suggestions to help with this are: get off a stop early and walk to work, do home exercises or take the stairs instead of a lift.

Smoking

Research by Parrott (1995/1999) found that those who give up smoking have reduced feelings of stress compared to smokers. However it was found that the acute nicotine deprivation increased stress but then returned to its baseline.
Building on this Milani and Lavie (2009) found that due to smoking participants who took in less oxygen had a higher psychosocial stress level compared to non-smokers. This suggests that smoking reduces oxygen uptake which increases psychosocial stress.
Some suggestions to help with this are: Local stop smoking organisations run by the NHS, try to reduce the amount you smoke by 1 cigarette per week etc and try alternatives such as nicotine patches etc.

Alcohol

Cooper, Russell and George (1988) found that when drinking is used as a stress coping strategy the individual was more likely to avoid the problem rather than confront it. In addition there was also the belief that alcohol was a positive factor in coping. This was linked with alcoholism.
Building on this Cooper et al (1992) found that stressors were highly predictive of alcohol use and drinking problems. This study suggested demonstrated a link between stress and alcohol abuse.
Furthermore, Sayette (2001) found that alcohol was found to reduce the effectiveness of stress responses compared to when no alcohol had been consumed.
Some recommendations for avoiding this are: The use of alcohol free beers or cocktails instead of alcoholic ones and talk to friends and family if this is an ongoing issue to see how they can help support you in reducing your alcohol intake. However if there is a need for alcohol then talk to a doctor or look for a local AA group for help

Caffeine

Research by Conway et al. (1981) found that habitual coffee drinking was linked to chronic stress tenancies and higher perceptions of stress. Building on this Oaten and Cheng (2005) found that attempts to regulate caffeine consumption may fail because there are insufficient resources to regulate caffeine consumption. This is due to the resources also being depleted by stress. Furthermore Lovallo (2006) found that caffeine was linked with higher cortisol secretion. Cortisol is usually released in response to stressors. If this happens for long periods of time then it can result in damage as the body is kept in a state of stress.

Some suggestions to help reduce your caffeine intake are: swap a coffee for a decaf coffee or swap a tea for a decaf or green tea. In addition try swapping a caffeinated soft drink for a carbonated water.