Behav Med
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Randomized Controlled Trial Clinical Trial
Stress effects of personal control over hospital noise.
Hospital critical care unit (CCU) sounds, instruction in personal control over noise, and stress were studied in 105 female volunteers attempting to sleep overnight in a simulated hospital environment. Subjects were randomly assigned to three groups--instruction in personal control over noise, no instruction in personal control over noise, or a quiet condition. The two noise conditions heard audiotaped recorded playback of CCU nighttime sounds. ⋯ The results of group comparisons provided strong support for a causal relationship between CCU sounds and greater subjective stress (p less than .000) but not for physiological stress measured by urinary epinephrine. As predicted, scores for sensitivity of the person to noise were positively correlated with scores for noise-induced subjective stress (r = .226, p less than .05). Hierarchical multiple regression revealed that CCU sound levels independently accounted for 54% (p less than .001) and sensitivity to noise for 5% (p less than .01) of the variance in subjective stress.
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The perception of stress is believed to result in negative consequences as a result of complex interactions among a number of variables. This study of a random sample of 234 male highway patrol officers examined the relationship among stress measures (perception of stress, report of daily hassles, and items unique to police work) and the specific consequences of stress (burnout, physical symptoms, and job dissatisfaction). ⋯ The two moderator variables we examined exerted clearer main effects, rather than moderating influences, on the outcome measures. The authors found that the PSS was an important and significant predictor of stress-induced consequences.