Methods for Stress Management

Reviewed by Penny Quinn, Associate Professor, Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College on 1/4/24

Comprehensiveness rating: 5 see less

Easy to follow layout with an introductory chapter which established stress verses eustress and provision of Selye's GAS foundational understanding. The meat of the text identifies 19 stress management techniques to aid students in exposure to the techniques which may best work for them. Entire chapters addressing Anger, Anxiety, Healthy Eating, Physical Activity, and Time Management follow to emphasize the wholistic nature and complexity of wellness. The closing chapter assists students in understanding the ongoing need to manage stress throughout one's lifetime and steps to plan proactive efforts in this regard.

Content Accuracy rating: 5

In my review, I saw no glaring errors.

Relevance/Longevity rating: 5

Concepts are clearly defined and presented in a manner that allows for ease of updating and expanding as necessary/desired.

Clarity rating: 5

Very clear and easy for the average college student to understand.

Consistency rating: 5

I saw no inconsistency in my review.

Modularity rating: 5

The existing layout appears to provide easy flexibility for instructional modification as best fits the student learning outcomes of a given course.

Organization/Structure/Flow rating: 5

Clearly presented.

Interface rating: 5

The downloaded text allowed for easy movement within the text from the linked chapters and chapter sections.

Grammatical Errors rating: 5

I saw no errors in my review.

Cultural Relevance rating: 5

I saw no culturally offensive content in my review.

Comments

I believe the dietary section could benefit from the addition of the US Department of Agriculture MyPlate visual. I find that my students (mainly freshmen and the majority are athletes) may forget amounts, but the image of "half your plate should be fruits and veggies, with more veg than fruit" is one that tends to stick with them. In my opinion, the text could benefit from the addition of visuals throughout which drive home the concepts in a manner beyond straight textural delivery. In present form, the lack of images would not make the content very enticing to younger students. Overall, the narrative is succinct and clear, which I believe would be of interest to more mature student audience.

I plan to utilize this OER text as a supplement to a new course I am offering this Spring.

I personally, would love to see the addition of self-assessment tools (anger, anxiety, stress, etc.) to assist individuals in gaining a better understanding of their predominant weaker areas. This would aid in their planning processes to modify behavior to best manage stress throughout their lifetime. I do value the inclusion of a number of links to primary sources and additional information!

Reviewed by Elina Thomas, Assistant Professor, Earlham College on 12/30/23

Comprehensiveness rating: 3 see less

Some of the main concepts typically covered when discussing stress, like chronic stress, acute stress and General Adaptation syndrome are covered reasonably well (more detail could be provided here, like descriptions of each of the stages of General Adaptation Syndrome). However, many topics typically covered in the field of stress are missing and some of the topics seem to be somewhat unrelated (e.g., the "Financial Goals and Realities" and “Making Money” sections). This book would benefit from the discussion of key concepts like Emotion Regulation, especially prior to the "Managing Anger" section. A brief section on John Gross's model of Emotion would also fit well here. Concepts like Allostasis and Homeostasis could also be covered here (homeostasis is mentioned later in the text, when Walter Canon is introduced, but it would be helpful to mention this earlier in the text).

Content Accuracy rating: 5

Some content is missing information (e.g., Page 5- figure 3 refers to the Yerkees-Dodson curve, but this is not mentioned in the text. The text seems to imply that this curve was created by Hans Seyle). Outside of instances like this, the information presented seems to be accurate.

Relevance/Longevity rating: 4

The “Prevalence of Stress” section is a bit dated and would benefit from updated data. In particular, it would be interesting to see data post COVID. Outside of this, information seems to be relevant and unlikely to become obsolete in the next few years.

Clarity rating: 5

Text is written very clearly and should be easily accessible to most audiences.

Consistency rating: 5

The author does a great job of introducing terminology and being consistent with the terminology that has been introduced.

Modularity rating: 5

The text has been divided into sections that would be easy to assign for class reading.

Organization/Structure/Flow rating: 4

Some information presented could be better organized. Some sections appear to come out of nowhere (e.g., “Acute Stress Disorder” would be better placed prior to a section on how stress can contribute to the emergence of psychopathologies). It also seems strange for Chapter 3, which is focused on Relaxation, to have a section on the stages of sleep. The section on Communication also seems to be out of place.

Interface rating: 4

The majority of the text is well placed, links to images and other sections seem to direct the reader very close to where they are supposed to be. The text could benefit from some reformatting to remove unnecessary sections of white space between titles for figures and the actual figures (e.g., page 101). The addition of page breaks will help with this, and allow for links to take the reader to the exact figure or section being referenced. There are also empty sections that could be removed from the text (e.g., the "Test your knowledge" section seems to empty in a lot of instances). Some of the links referring to other content don’t seem to be relevant (e.g., it is unclear what should be downloaded from the link on page 12). Additionally, some links appear to be missing (e.g., “Review Questions” on page 19 or “Test your knowledge” on page 24). Some figures are also small and difficult to read (e.g., “The Health Belief Model” on page 25).

Grammatical Errors rating: 4

There are some minor grammatical errors with spacing in the text (e.g., page 44 “…in a healthy manner.There are six categories...”). There are also instances where words are capitalized inconsistently (e.g., Tai Chi on page 66).

Cultural Relevance rating: 2

While this text is not offensive or culturally insensitive, little to no information that is provided contains examples of how stress might impact individuals differently based on their background. A section on Racism as a chronic stressor could be included for example (there is much relevant literature that could be added here). Information could also be provided on how socioeconomic status influences the stress response (perhaps this would fit in the “Financial Goals” section). It may also be helpful to include information on how stress and/or trauma in early life influences the perception of stress later in life. On a positive note, sections that reference stress reduction techniques with origins from other cultures include relevant information from those cultures (with the exception of the section on Tai Chi).

Comments

As it is currently, it is unclear what the reader should take away from this book. Is the main goal to learn strategies on how to reduce one’s stress? A preface to orient the reader may help establish the goal of the text. There also appear to be some missing citations (e.g., Accordingly to at least one study…” on page 69- the study is not cited). Any time the author mentions a study, it should be cited in the text.

Reviewed by Mary Jordan, Librarian, St. Cloud Technical & Community College on 12/20/23

Comprehensiveness rating: 5 see less

It seems to cover many relevant topics to the concept of stress management.

Content Accuracy rating: 4

The content is general, but seems accurate. There is a definite lack of specific citations, and many of the references at the end of the chapters are links to Wikipedia articles instead of more scholarly material.

Relevance/Longevity rating: 5

the content is general enough that it would be relevant for quite a while

Clarity rating: 4

Easy to read, at a basic level of stress management learning

Consistency rating: 5

Consistent in terminology throughout the text, as well as in tone and in complexity.

Modularity rating: 5

Easy to read, broken into small sections throughout; would be easy to take individual topics for study.

Organization/Structure/Flow rating: 5

There is good flow to the book; the contents are shared in a way that builds from chapter to chapter.

Interface rating: 3

At the end of many sections there was a heading that said "Test your knowledge" - but there was nothing there. Was there supposed to be an image? Or an interactive task?

When I tried to start by clicking "Read Book" on the front cover, I could not figure out how to get the pages to advance without going to menu to re-select every individual topic in a chapter. I finally downloaded the PDF to scroll, and that worked fine.

Grammatical Errors rating: 5

I did not notice any grammatical errors.

Cultural Relevance rating: 5

I did not notice any cultural insensitive or offensive material.

Comments

This would be a good book for a beginning look at stress management, or to use individual chapters for training. The lack of citations to sources when clearly using quotation marks is troubling, as is the lack of more scholarly references at the end of the chapters. It might not be the best text for a college classroom, but would be useful in a training program or for people doing individual study. The writing style is approachable and easy to understand, and the flow of the chapters works well for following the ideas from the beginning to the end of the book.

Reviewed by rebekah coxwell, Adjunct Professor, Tidewater Community College on 12/12/23

Comprehensiveness rating: 5 see less

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Content Accuracy rating: 5

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Relevance/Longevity rating: 5

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Clarity rating: 5

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Consistency rating: 5

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Modularity rating: 5

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Organization/Structure/Flow rating: 5

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Interface rating: 5

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Grammatical Errors rating: 5

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Cultural Relevance rating: 5

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Comments

The chapter design is notably commendable, with a thoughtful arrangement of objectives at the outset, enhancing the overall aesthetic appeal. The intuitive navigation facilitates a seamless reading experience, complemented by strategically placed mini quizzes that add an interactive dimension to the chapters. The readability of the content is notable, making it easily digestible for readers. Moreover, the inclusion of motivating titles for each section serves to captivate the reader's interest and encourage engagement with the material. Overall, the combination of these elements creates a well-crafted and engaging chapter structure

Reviewed by Mary Hennessy, Faculty, Portland Community College on 12/4/23

Comprehensiveness rating: 5 see less

Great overview of most areas of stress and wellness.

Content Accuracy rating: 5

Some of the nutrition/health information is a bit outdated, with references going back to 1972.

Relevance/Longevity rating: 5

Although some research could be more current, the basic principles are up to date.

Clarity rating: 5

Material is very clear and appropriate for a 100 level college course.

Consistency rating: 5

The material was consistent in organization and framework.

Modularity rating: 5

Chapters were clear and logical.

Organization/Structure/Flow rating: 5

Chapters are well organized internally and topics are presented in an order that is logical.

Interface rating: 5

The interface took a minute to understand in terms of advancing the pages, but after that is was great.

Grammatical Errors rating: 5

I did not notice any errors.

Cultural Relevance rating: 5

I am far from an expert in this area, but I did not perceive any offensive content.

Comments

This is a great book for students and I will be using parts of it in my stress management class!