Open AccessManaging stress during the COVID-19 pandemic: The application of deep breathing relaxation technique and diary feedback among students
Author(s) -
Yunita Zahra,
Ika Sari Dewi,
Amalia Meutia,
Dizriani,
Suri Mutia Siregar,
Omar Khalifa Burhan
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
abdimas talenta
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 2549-4341
pISSN - 2549-418X
DOI - 10.32734/abdimastalenta.v5i2.5063
Subject(s) - evening , intervention (counseling) , morning , relaxation (psychology) , psychology , stress (linguistics) , breathing , covid-19 , stress management , medicine , physical therapy , clinical psychology , social psychology , psychiatry , linguistics , philosophy , physics , disease , astronomy , infectious disease (medical specialty)
Having to stay at home and disconnected from their social world during the Covid-19 lockdown is stressful for many people, including students. The current paper reports the application of a deep breathing relaxation technique among students from the Faculty of Psychology Universitas Sumatera Utara, to regulate their stress levels at home. Twenty-five students participated in this intervention program. We trained them in a deep breathing relaxation technique and asked them to practice the technique twice a day, in the morning and the evening. We followed their progress for five consecutive days, in which participants filled a stress diary twice a day, in the morning and the evening. Based on the diary, a feedback by a psychologist was sent to each individual participant the next day. We assessed the effectiveness of the intervention program by comparing the students' perceived stress at the pre-intervention phase compared to their stress level at the post-intervention phase. The results showed a significant and meaningful impact of the intervention program, in which students reported lower perceived stress at the post-intervention compared to the pre-intervention phase.