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Stress has
been referred to as the malady of the new millennium. Articles on
stress have been appearing in magazines and newspapers almost as often as
articles on new ways to lose weight. Seminars, classes and clinics for
helping people cope with stress overload are springing up in hospitals,
physician family practice groups, business and industry, universities and
community colleges, mental health clinics, and independent agencies. As
additional links between life stress and physical illness are demonstrated,
and as the health care industry focuses increasingly on preventing illness
and maintaining wellness, stress management programs assume even more
importance.
Methods of assessing the individual’s
physiological strengths and weaknesses, such as the stress EKG, tests of
endurance or aerobic capacity, cholesterol count, blood pressure, etc., are
readily available. However, analysis of stress-producing behaviors and
beliefs (which many feel lie at the root of the problem) is more difficult.
Such assessment must rely on brief scales covering only one or two areas of
a person’s life, or on instruments developed to detect problems more severe
than most people experience in daily life.
The
Stress Assessment Profile has been developed to fill that gap in stress
assessment and management programs by providing a comprehensive, simple-
to-administer instrument, which complements physiological assessments.
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The Stress
Management Profile is designed
to be a stress and coping "check-up" for normal, healthy adults, rather than
a diagnostic tool for those in need of therapy. Its focus is on prevention
of illness and enhancement of the quality of life. It is based on the
premise that everyone experiences excess stress in some areas of their lives
at some times in their lives, and that personal information about one’s own
sources and symptoms of stress is the first step toward positive change.
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While the individualized profile is the end product of this process, it is
the beginning for the individual seeking to improve his/her ability to cope
with life stress. The profile allows the individual to determine (alone or
in consultation with a professional) areas of his/her life which would
benefit from change, and to focus on specific aspects of those areas which
are causing distress. If the individual embarks on a program of change
through classes, groups, reading, counseling, etc., the Stress Management
Profile can serve as a periodic "check-up" to assess improvement.
The Stress
Management Profile is an
extensive series of questions and scales to which one responds and requires
approximately 50-75 minutes to complete.
The questions and scales examine various
potentially stress inducing aspects of the individual’s life, gather
information on specific symptoms of stress the person is experiencing, and
explore the coping strategies he/she uses.
The individual’s initial responses
determine questions and scales to be presented later in the inventory. The
questions are direct and ask the respondent to rate his/her own feelings,
concerns, experiences, and activities in specific areas. No attempt is made
to mislead or "trick" the respondent, or to elicit information he/she is
unaware of providing. Respondents report finding the process of taking the
Stress
Management Profile interesting and engaging.
The Stress
Management Profile then compiles
the information provided by the respondent and compares it to norms derived
from answers provided to similar questions by large experimental
populations. In addition, responses are sorted and combined to provide the
individual with a stress profile detailing particular strengths and
weaknesses.
The Stress
Management Profile produces a twelve-
to sixteen-page print-out. It provides the recipient with organized,
specific information about his/her sources of stress, symptoms of stress,
and strategies of coping with stress. It includes suggestions for changing
behavior in some areas, and for recognizing personal strengths in other
areas.
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Stress Assessment Profile - Comprehensive |
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Each assessment:
asks respondents to answer a series of questions about the degree to
which they are experiencing various aspects of their lives as
stressful and/or satisfying, and the extent to which they perceive
themselves as able to easily make changes;
gives respondents a confidential profile of their own levels of
stress, satisfactions and well-being;
makes suggestions for reducing stress and enhancing well- being;
encourages respondents to make positive life-style changes.
The Comprehensive Stress Assessment Profile is a 60-minute
assessment for over 30 life-style areas. This 400+ item assessment
then generates a 16-page individualized profile plus graph, which
can be the basis for discussion with a professional or can be given
to the respondent without interpretation. The 30+ scales have high
reliability as well as impressive face, content, empirical and
construct validity. Normed on a national sample of over 1500
respondents, the Comprehensive Stress Assessment Profile is designed
for people 18 and older.
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Stress
Assessment Profile - Brief |
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The Brief
Stress Assessment Profile is a 20-minute assessment of 16
life-style areas. This 115-item assessment then generates an 8-page
individualized profile plus graph, which can be the basis for
discussion with a professional or can be given to the respondent
without interpretation. The scales and items were chosen from the
Comprehensive Stress Assessment Profile using item-analysis and
factor analysis. The resultant scales have high internal and
test-retest reliability as well as impressive face, empirical and
construct validity. Normed on a national sample of over 3500
respondents, the Brief CSI is designed for people 18 and older.
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