Applied Social Research Anxiety and Distress

Question: Describe about the Applied Social Research for Anxiety and Distress. Answer: Introduction Stress is usually described as the feeling of been overwhelmed. This feeling can be caused when an individual have reached their limit of dealing with the stress or they have been going through stress for a long time. When stress can make often feel exhausted it can also help them to perform our day to day functions as well (Simmons Daw, 1994). Stress may affect both the psychological and physical health of the person (Dolbier Rush, 2012). Excessive Stress may lead to anxiety and distress. Stress management is a process where one copes with a stressful situation (Patrycja Czes?aw, 2015).There are different process in dealing with a stressful situation. The strategies may be divided into cognitive and behavioural strategies. Physical activity has been found to be a very important technique for stress management (Dolbier Rush, 2012). Progressive Muscle Relaxation (PMR) techniques are seen as an effective method in coping with Stressful situation (Tsiouli et al., 2014). The PMR techniques are seen as tensing and relaxation process of different muscle groups. PMR technique helps in reducing the negative stressors. The benefits of PMR are a lowering of Blood pressure, heart rate, anxiety fatigue and pain. It also helps in better control of oneself, providing quality sleep and enough energy to the body. PMR has been shown to reduce anxiety (Carver Malley, 2015). It has also been found to be helping the person with clearer thinking process and to improve his communication skill. Parents of adolescents and children having diabetes experience a high level of stress (Tsiouli et al., 2014). The high stress of the parents is due to the demands of the child. For parents of adolescents the level of stress is due also to the development changes in the child and his demands. The childs / adolescents coping with the diabetes also have been found to affect the stress level of parents. The study found that eight weeks of relaxation techniques has beneficial effects on the stress levels of parents. Parenting of a child is a highly stressful activity. It becomes more stressful due to the demands of the child. The process of coping with the stress of parenting should include both cognitive and behavioural changes as well methods to restore the physical and psychological symptoms (Hayes Watson, 2013). Thus through the survey trying to find that the process is effective for the depression, restlessness and fatigue that have been caused due to the stressors. The current study investigates the effectiveness of a stress management course for parents. The purpose of the course was to provide the parents with the knowledge on how to use cognitive and mindfulness strategies. Design The participants of the study consisted of parents whose children went to the local primary school. The targeted sample of 20 parents underwent six week course on stress management which wassychoeducational program. The program provided instructions to the parents on the use of cognitive and behavioural strategies to reduce stress and anxiety levels. Later on parents were allowed to interact with each other in the weekly sessions as well as over coffee regarding the stress management techniques being taught. The participants for the study were 13 Females and seven males. Of these 20 parents the ethnicity can be described as four were Asians, 13 were Caucasians, two were Indigenous Australian and one was Pacific Islanders. At home 15 of the parents spoke English, Two spoke Chinese and one parent each spoke Spanish, Samoan and Italian. Six of the parents had completed high school, five of the parents had an undergraduate tertiary education, and three parents each had an educational level of post-graduate tertiary, TAFE certificate and some high school certificate. In order to measure the stress management, Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale (DASS). It is a set of three report scale designs to define, understand and measure the negative emotions of depression, anxiety and stress. For the purpose of the present study the DASS scores were collected prior to the start of the program and also at the end of the program. The pre and post results of the DASS scores were used for the quantitative analysis. The quantitative analysis was done using MS EXCEL 2007. For the quantitative analysis the pre and post DASS scores were analysed. In addition the frequency distribution of the parents on a Likert Scale with pre and post DASS scores was also done. In addition, the 20 parents who completed the 6 weeks were asked about their experience as well their views on the Cool Parents Program. The views / experience of the parents were used for the qualitative analysis. Results The qualitative and quantitative results through DASS are as follows: Qualitative Thematic analysis is an useful process of qualitatively data analysing (Braun Clarke, 2006). The effects of the course can be judged from Progressive Muscle Relaxation techniques: As mentioned before muscle relaxation technique is a very important technique which helps in reducing stress. (Catching up with friends: the process of catching up with friends can be an important aspect of stress reduction. 2 Parents found that they enjoyed catching up and talking with other parents. One of the parents went to support his partner. Parents during the course also made a couple of new friends. The relaxation of stress can also be seen as good to get out and interact with other adults. Useless: Some parents new in the stress management program highlighted the lack of anything. 1 parent reported that it was a waste of time while another felt that he felt the same as before. There also seems that there was lack of new techniques. This was highlighted as I havent got much to say really. 1 parent also reported that he still felt lonely. Useful: Parents found that the course on stress management provided them with useful stress management strategies. Parents used the comments some strategies to manage my anxiety now and able to handle the stress of parenting better. Parents also found the small techniques that were taught during the six week course was beneficial for them. Parents used the comment pretty good overall and Im definitely less stressed. One parent found that the focus was on reducing of anxiety and more emphasis should have been given to manage the symptoms of depression. Quantitative Table 1 gives the descriptive statistics for the DASS scores both pre and post stress management class. Table 1: Descriptive Statistics of DASS scores pre and post treatment Level Mean Standard Deviation Depression Pre 17.40 11.59 Post 15.40 10.60 Anxiety Pre 17.85 10.69 Post 12.40 6.41 Stress Pre 22.05 10.70 Post 14.95 6.65 From table 1 that post class the DASS scores of the parents in depression, Anxiety and Stress have reduced. The mean (sd) of the depression score of the parents were 17.40 (11.59) and 15.40 (10.60) respectively. Similarly the mean (sd) of the Anxiety scores of the parents were 17.85 (10.69) and 12.40 (6.41) respectively. Similarly the scores of the stress levels were 22.05 (10.70) and 14.95 (6.65) respectively. The results find that there is a reduction in the standard deviation of the DASS scores also. The Figure 1 will shows a graph including pre and post changes of the DASS score. Figure 1: Pre and Post Changes in DASS Scores Table 2 represents the frequency of the emotional states pre and post stress management class. Figure 2: Frequency distribution of parents Pre and Post stress management class From table 2 and figure 2 shows that there was a reduction in the number of parents who had extremely severe depression and anxiety, pre and post the class. In addition there no parents having extremely severe anxiety. The number of parents having severe stress remained the same (3) pre and post treatment. The number of parents having severe anxiety increased from 2 (pre-treatment) to 4 (post treatment). Similarly the number of parents having severe depression increased from 0 (pre-treatment) to 1 (post treatment). The number of parents having moderate depression remained the same (6) pre and post treatment. The number of parents having moderate stress reduced from 3 (pre-treatment) to 1 (post treatment). In addition the number of parents having moderate treatment increased from 3 (pre-treatment) to 5 (post treatment). The number of parents having mild depression (4) remained pre and post treatment. The number of parents having mild anxiety and mild stress increased in number from pr e-treatment to post-treatment. The number of parents having normal depression remained the same (5) pre and post treatment. The number of parents having normal anxiety and stress increased from pre-treatment to post treatment level. From table 1 shows that there is a decrease in the anxiety and stress average scores (sd), pre and post treatment. From table 2 we find that there has been a reduction in the number of parents having extremely severe anxiety and stress. There has been an increase in the number of parents having anxiety in the normal, mild, moderate and severe level. Similarly there has been an increase in the number of parents having normal, mild and severe stress. In addition there has been a decrease in the number of parents having moderate stress from the pre-treatment level to the post treatment level. Discussion and Conclusion The present assignment is to develop data analysis skills. The present assignment showing the effect of stress management techniques. According to the results there was a decrease in the anxiety and stress scores of parents pre and post treatment. The DASS questionnaire was used to access the pre-treatment and post treatment levels of anxiety and stress of the parents Parents expressed their support for PMR by saying breathing and PMR to reduce stress were particularly helpful and I use PMR every day now. Parents also found that breathing and cognitive strategies were helpful. Parents also said that they would recommend the practical relaxation and stress reduction strategies. The usefulness of PMR can also perceived from stopping and breathing to relax were very useful. From an analysis of the data was found that there has been a decrease in the number of parents having extremely severe anxiety from the pre-treatment level to the post treatment. On the other there has been an increase in the number of parents having normal, mild, moderate and severe level of anxiety from the pre-treatment level to the post treatment levels. The increase in the number of parents at the normal, mild, moderate and severe level can be attributed to the fact that there has been a reduction in the number of parents at the extreme severe levels. Survey also found that the treatment reduced the number of parents having stress in the moderate and extremely severe levels. The results says that there was an increase in the number of parents having stress in the normal, mild and sever levels. The increase in the number of parents having normal, mild and severe levels of stress from the pre-treatment level to the post treatment level can be attributed to the fact that there was a decrease in the number of parents having moderate and extremely severe level from pre to post treatment levels. Previous literature studies have also shown the beneficial effects of stress management and the health of persons (Tsiouli et al., 2014, Lovibond and Lovibond, 1995). From the above analysis we can conclude that the six week stress management course has indeed been able to teach certain techniques by which stress and anxiety of the parents have been reduced. The study was not without its limitations. The cool parents program has been conducted only once and the results of the program have been reported. 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