Stress Relief Measurements in Young Adults and Adolescents—A Comparative Pilot Study with Different Relaxation Programs

Background: Chronic stress is a emotional challenge. Constant pressure presents a serious risk of damage to mental and physical health and hence is associated with increased incidence of various diseases. The ability to cope with chronic stress may be a function of psychological resilience including intellectual capacities, but more so of external factors such as life experience and education. Adolescents are more vulnerable to chronic stress than adults. The measures introduced during the COVID-19 pandemic brought up major societal problems. As both children and adolescents lost their life anchors, the prevalence of stress in adolescents increased from 20% to 45%. Chronic psychological stress can impede the normal development of schoolchildren. It may cause anxiety, social withdrawal, interpersonal conflicts and aggression. This applies particularly to those in puberty, with the adolescent already facing unstable social bonds and elevated fear about the future. It is likely that the puberty cohort accounts for the dramatic increase in the prevalence of stress. Since it impacts public health, chronic stress among school-age children is increasingly taking on a socio-political dimension. Non-clinical stress intervention studies can investigate how to achieve stress reduction in school children. Methods: In a small pilot study, we analysed the effects of a training program with four different standard interventions, i.e. mindfulness training, progressive muscle reflection, autogenic training, and sound meditation. We obtained baseline scores of 10 stress-indicators, and re-tested after the interventions were performed. Results: The four applied interventions resulted in a reduction of 8 (out of 10) stress-indicators, such as “feeling stressed” or stress related symptoms (headaches, dizziness, sweating). This positive impact of the interventions significantly reduced “Fears about the future” (p < 0.001). None of the offered stress related trainings was particularly preferred. The relaxation using singing bowls was well received by some young people. However, there was a unanimous opinion among the students tested, that stress-related training should be offered on a routine basis in school curriculum. Discussion: School children recognise the positive potential of stress reducing training or interventions. Our results provide evidence in support of integrating the training of relaxation techniques in the school curriculum. We propose that a larger study be undertaken to determine which methods