Effect of A Stress Management Program on the Stress and Occupation of Chiang Mai University Students

Stress is a problem that is often found in students due to their own expectations within themselves and those of others which students have to bear. Furthermore, stress occurs from the changes at the personnel, social, and environmental levels. This stress has an effect on the occupation of students.

This study was conducted to develop a stress management program and increase the capacity in the occupational performance of Chiang Mai University students.

This study was quasi-experimental research that undertook an experiment according to the two-group research design. This measured both the pretest and post-test results of the experiment. The study used purposive sampling with a total of 24 samples comprising 12 persons in the experimental group and 12 persons in the control group. The experimental group joined the program eight times or for eight weeks one time per week for 90 minutes. This utilized the technique of managing the stress, which consisted of stress management skills and stress relaxation techniques. The sample was evaluated with an evaluation form. Moreover, the Suanprung Stress Test-20 and Test-60 were used, as well as an evaluation form of the occupational performance of the students, which was adapted from a similar form of the Canadian Occupational Performance Measure (COPM). This was conducted before and after joining the program, so to gather information, an analysis on the information by using the independent t-test to compare the experimental group and the control group before and after receiving the stress management program, as well as the dependent t-test was conducted. Information analysis was carried out to compare the samples in the same group.

After receiving the stress management program, the experimental group had less stress, which had statistical significance. There was also greater capacity in the occupational performance that also displayed statistical significance. The result of joining the program was different from the control group, that had a statistical significance level of 0.05. In the control group, the people who lived their daily life, as usual, showed no difference between stress and occupational performance.

The studied results showed the effectiveness of the stress management program in reducing stress and increasing the occupational performance of Chiang Mai University students. This could be implemented as a prototype of the program to solve the problems created from the stress of Chiang Mai University students. This would also have a positive effect on future occupational therapy.