Effectiveness of Stress Balls in Reducing the Physiological Symptoms of Stress

Date
2015Author
Alvarez, Joel
Day, Dani
Gardner, Alyssa
Saeed, Imaan
Schwebach, Courtney
Valk, Ryan
Publisher
Journal of Advanced Student Sciences (JASS)
Metadata
Show full item recordAbstract
The purpose of our study was to determine the effectiveness of stress balls in reducing the physiological symptoms of stress. We measured changes in heart rate, blood pressure, and skin conductance and compared the differences between an experimental group that received a stress ball (n=15) and a control group that did not receive a stress ball (n=15). Stress was induced by a two minute timed-test coupled with the anticipation of a second test. Baseline measurements were taken before the first test, as well as immediately following the first test, and after a relaxation period where the experimental group received a stress ball. Our results did not show a significant difference between the experimental and control groups for heart rate (p-value=0.188), systolic blood pressure (p-value=0.663), diastolic blood pressure (p-value=0.557), or galvanic skin response (p-value=0.258). Our results suggest that stress balls are not effective in reducing heart rate, blood pressure, or skin conductance following an episode of induced acute stress in college-aged individuals.
Subject
stress ball
blood pressure
heart rate
GSR
stress
relaxation
skin conductance
stress response
Permanent Link
http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1793/80293Description
An article that appeared in JASS, issue 2015
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