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Updated: Apr 20, 2026

A Community-based Stress Management Program: Using Wearable Devices to Assess Whole Body Physiological Responses in Non-laboratory Settings
Published on: January 22, 2018
Randomized controlled trial evaluating the effectiveness of a web-based stress management program among community
Patricia Frazier1, Liza Meredith, Christiaan Greer
1a Department of Psychology , University of Minnesota , Minneapolis , MN 55455 , USA.
Background And Objectives:
This study evaluated the effectiveness of a web-based stress management program among community college students that focused on increasing perceived control over stressful events.
Design:
Students (N = 257) were randomly assigned to a Present Control Intervention or a Stress-information only comparison group.
Methods:
Primary outcomes were perceived stress and stress symptoms; secondary outcomes were depression and anxiety. Self-report measures were completed online at preintervention, postintervention, and three-week follow-up. Intervention effects were estimated using linear mixed models. Seventy-five percent of the sample (n = 194) completed the pretest and comprised the intent-to-treat sample.
Results:
Participants in the intervention group reported significant increases in present control, and significant decreases in all four primary and secondary outcome measures from baseline to postintervention and follow-up. Within-group effect sizes were small to medium at postintervention (mean d = -.34) and follow-up (mean d = -.49). The mean between-group effect size on the four outcome measures was d = .35 at postintervention but d = .12 at follow-up, due to unexpected decreases in distress in the comparison group.
Conclusions:
Our online program is a cost-effective mental health program for college students. Limitations and future direction are discussed.
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