Evaluation of a Stress Management Program Effectiveness for Preschool Children

Abstract

Thirty-two preschool children from a day care center in suburban Rochester, New York participated as an experimental group in a study to evaluate a Stress Management Program. The program was designed to provide the children with different relaxation techniques for coping with stress. Thirty four preschool children from a second day care center, also in suburban Rochester, served as the control group. It was hypothesized that the stress management program would be effective in reducing the level of stress in the treatment group as contrasted with the control group. Material included a short form of the Preschool Behavior Questionnaire (PBQ-S) for the pretest and the posttest. The PBQ-S measured the level of stress of each participant. The children in the treatment group participated in ten consecutive sessions which took approximately fifteen to twenty-five minutes each. PBQ-S ratings were obtained for children in both groups, prior to and at the conclusion of these sessions, to determine the change in the children's stress levels. Results from a series of t-tests indicated that the Stress Management Program had an equivocal effect on the reduction of stress of the participants.