Increasing stress resilience in older adults through a 6-week prevention program: effects on coping strategies, anxiety symptoms, and cortisol levels
IntroductionAs people age, chronic stress, resulting in prolonged or repeated activation of the hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal (HPA) axis, has been associated with long-term adverse health outcomes. Coping strategies and social support have been recognized as contributing to resilience to stress in...
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2025-01-01
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| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1499609/full |
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| author | Marie-Josée Richer Sébastien Grenier Sébastien Grenier Sonia Lupien Sonia Lupien Pierrich Plusquellec Pierrich Plusquellec Pierrich Plusquellec |
| author_facet | Marie-Josée Richer Sébastien Grenier Sébastien Grenier Sonia Lupien Sonia Lupien Pierrich Plusquellec Pierrich Plusquellec Pierrich Plusquellec |
| author_sort | Marie-Josée Richer |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | IntroductionAs people age, chronic stress, resulting in prolonged or repeated activation of the hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal (HPA) axis, has been associated with long-term adverse health outcomes. Coping strategies and social support have been recognized as contributing to resilience to stress in older adults. Few studies have evaluated stress management training (SMT) interventions based on psychoneuroendocrinology that were designed to be delivered to healthy older adults in community settings.MethodsIn this study, a total of 170 older adults (mean age = 76.07, SD = 7.67) participated in a cluster-randomized trial designed to compare the delivery of an SMT intervention with a waitlist condition.ResultsThe effect of SMT on coping strategies, stress, anxiety, and depression was measured 3 weeks and 3 months after the intervention. In addition, we tested the effect on basal cortisol secretion over 2 days from saliva samples upon awakening and the total diurnal cortisol output [area under the curve with respect to ground (AUCg)]. Results from repeated measures analyses of variance showed that participants who received the intervention demonstrated a significant increase in problem-solving coping strategies and a decrease in anxiety scores 3 weeks after the intervention compared to the waitlist group. STM participants also demonstrated lower cortisol levels on the AUCg index. At the 3-month follow-up, gains were maintained only on the AUCg index.DiscussionThis type of brief preventive program could reduce basal cortisol levels in older adults, which may be an important protective factor against health outcomes associated with chronic HPA activation. Our results provide sufficient evidence to warrant further research to improve the effectiveness of O’stress in different settings. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-f1b8f2f6fbb540d3ac1965a9514b4fb0 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 1664-1078 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-01-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Psychology |
| spelling | doaj-art-f1b8f2f6fbb540d3ac1965a9514b4fb02025-01-06T06:59:28ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Psychology1664-10782025-01-011510.3389/fpsyg.2024.14996091499609Increasing stress resilience in older adults through a 6-week prevention program: effects on coping strategies, anxiety symptoms, and cortisol levelsMarie-Josée Richer0Sébastien Grenier1Sébastien Grenier2Sonia Lupien3Sonia Lupien4Pierrich Plusquellec5Pierrich Plusquellec6Pierrich Plusquellec7Psychoeducation School, University of Montreal, Montreal, QC, CanadaLaboratoire d’étude sur l’anxiété et la dépression gériatrique, Centre de recherche de l’institut universitaire de gériatrie de Montréal, Montreal, QC, CanadaPsychology department, University of Montreal, Montreal, QC, CanadaCenter for Studies on Human Stress, Centre de recherche de l’institut universitaire en santé mentale de Montréal, Montreal, QC, CanadaPsychiatric Department, University of Montreal, Montreal, QC, CanadaPsychoeducation School, University of Montreal, Montreal, QC, CanadaCenter for Studies on Human Stress, Centre de recherche de l’institut universitaire en santé mentale de Montréal, Montreal, QC, CanadaCentre d’études en sciences de la communication non verbale, Centre de recherche de l’institut universitaire en santé mentale de Montréal, Montreal, QC, CanadaIntroductionAs people age, chronic stress, resulting in prolonged or repeated activation of the hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal (HPA) axis, has been associated with long-term adverse health outcomes. Coping strategies and social support have been recognized as contributing to resilience to stress in older adults. Few studies have evaluated stress management training (SMT) interventions based on psychoneuroendocrinology that were designed to be delivered to healthy older adults in community settings.MethodsIn this study, a total of 170 older adults (mean age = 76.07, SD = 7.67) participated in a cluster-randomized trial designed to compare the delivery of an SMT intervention with a waitlist condition.ResultsThe effect of SMT on coping strategies, stress, anxiety, and depression was measured 3 weeks and 3 months after the intervention. In addition, we tested the effect on basal cortisol secretion over 2 days from saliva samples upon awakening and the total diurnal cortisol output [area under the curve with respect to ground (AUCg)]. Results from repeated measures analyses of variance showed that participants who received the intervention demonstrated a significant increase in problem-solving coping strategies and a decrease in anxiety scores 3 weeks after the intervention compared to the waitlist group. STM participants also demonstrated lower cortisol levels on the AUCg index. At the 3-month follow-up, gains were maintained only on the AUCg index.DiscussionThis type of brief preventive program could reduce basal cortisol levels in older adults, which may be an important protective factor against health outcomes associated with chronic HPA activation. Our results provide sufficient evidence to warrant further research to improve the effectiveness of O’stress in different settings.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1499609/fullolder adultsstresscortisolpsychological distressstress management interventioncoping strategies |
| spellingShingle | Marie-Josée Richer Sébastien Grenier Sébastien Grenier Sonia Lupien Sonia Lupien Pierrich Plusquellec Pierrich Plusquellec Pierrich Plusquellec Increasing stress resilience in older adults through a 6-week prevention program: effects on coping strategies, anxiety symptoms, and cortisol levels Frontiers in Psychology older adults stress cortisol psychological distress stress management intervention coping strategies |
| title | Increasing stress resilience in older adults through a 6-week prevention program: effects on coping strategies, anxiety symptoms, and cortisol levels |
| title_full | Increasing stress resilience in older adults through a 6-week prevention program: effects on coping strategies, anxiety symptoms, and cortisol levels |
| title_fullStr | Increasing stress resilience in older adults through a 6-week prevention program: effects on coping strategies, anxiety symptoms, and cortisol levels |
| title_full_unstemmed | Increasing stress resilience in older adults through a 6-week prevention program: effects on coping strategies, anxiety symptoms, and cortisol levels |
| title_short | Increasing stress resilience in older adults through a 6-week prevention program: effects on coping strategies, anxiety symptoms, and cortisol levels |
| title_sort | increasing stress resilience in older adults through a 6 week prevention program effects on coping strategies anxiety symptoms and cortisol levels |
| topic | older adults stress cortisol psychological distress stress management intervention coping strategies |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1499609/full |
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