Restoration landscape theories propound the observation that landscape mitigates human emotion, mental functioning, and behaviour. Those environments that positively affect these spheres are called "restorative". In recent years, many attempts have been made to quantify restorative landscapes, so that landscape architects and others can replicate them in the manipulated environment. An understanding of how certain combinations of landscape attributes affect humans is important in knowing the ramifications of certain designs. A major finding in recent years is that preferred landscapes—or those high in scenic beauty—are generally more restorative than less-attractive environments. One realm of the environment not dealt with, however, is the sacred landscape. One reason for this is the relative difficulty in narrowing down the term “sacred” to something measurable. The purpose of this thesis is to investigate the nature of sacred landscapes, and then to test sacred landscapes against preferred landscapes to measure their restorative potential. This testing involved subjecting participants to a psychological stressor, and then exposing them to slides rated highly in either sacredness or preference. A control group was also tested, but viewed a blank screen rather than images. Implications of this research impact both researchers and practitioners in the fields of landscape architecture, environmental psychology, public land management, and visual resource management. This study found that sacred landscapes are very restorative, although not quite as restorative as environments that rate highly in scenic beauty. This confirms previous research efforts, and opens the study of restorative environments to other landscape typologies as well. / Applied Science, Faculty of / Architecture and Landscape Architecture (SALA), School of / Graduate

The Master's Thesis "Stress evaluation, coping and reduction" deals with studying and analyzing stress in sample of employees from Slovenské elektrárne, a.s. The theoretical part analyzes psychological overloading and pressure, stress itself, theories of stress, pathological effects of stress in society, coping with stress and reduction of stress. The practical part deals with stresors, which have an influence on respondents, their (dis)satisfaction with work and dependence between them. Conclusion contains suggestions how to deal with stress and its economic analysis.

Bakgrund: Sjuksköterskor upplever i hög grad stress i sitt arbete, vilket leder till konsekvenser för organisationen, sjuksköterskans egen hälsa samt för patientsäkerheten. Syfte: Syfte med denna litteraturstudie var att sammanställa hur arbetsrelaterad stress hos sjuksköterskor skulle kunna minskas. Metod: Denna studie hade utformningen av en beskrivande litteraturstudie där 12 artiklar analyserats. Huvudresultat: Flertalet interventioner och stressreducerande program har prövats för att öka sjuksköterskornas förmåga att hantera arbetsrelaterad stress, dvs att utveckla copingstrategier. Återhämtning i form av fysisk aktivitet, sociala kontakter, aktiviteter och stöd, samt olika slags behandlingar som djurassisterad terapi, öronakupunktur, lavendelolja, massage och raster visade sig bidra till en minskad känsla av stress hos sjuksköterskorna. Slutligen hade organisationen och ledningens betydelse visat sig vara viktig när det kommer till att minska stress hos sjuksköterskor. Slutsats:Flertalet olika metoder var bidragande när det kommer till att minska arbetsrelaterad stress hos sjuksköterskor. Dessa metoder skiljde sig mycket från varandra, men hade alla gemensamt att de ämnade att skapa strategier för sjuksköterskan att bättre kunna hantera stress, dvs utveckla sina copingstrategier. / Background: Nurses experience high levels of stress in their daily work, that leads to consequences when it comes to the organization, the well-being of the nurse herself, but also when it comes to patient safety. Aim: The aim of this study was to summarize how occupational stress among nurses can be reduced. Method: The design of this study was a describing literature review where 12 articles where analyzed.Main results: Several interventions and stress reduction programs have examined if they can help nurses handle occupational stress, i.e. develop their coping strategies. Recovery, as physical activity, social support, and other treatments like cane assisted therapy, auriculotherapy, massage, lavender oil treatment and the breaks can help reduce stress in nurses. The organization and the leadership, was also important when it comes to reducing the stress levels for nurses. Conclusion: Several methods contributed to reduce the stress level among nurses. Even though these methods differed, they all had in common that they aimed to create strategies for nurses to be able to handle occupational stress, i.e. to develop their coping strategies.

With the progress of society, an increasing number of people pay close attention to their health. In this study, we designed a Heart Rate based interactive sound to investigate how biodata-based interactive sounds can affect the well-being of people. We used a variety of approaches to analyzing the data and feedback from users. Firstly, the Trier Social Stress Test protocol was employed as a basis for the test. Also, a package of cultural probes such as photos, diaries and cards were used to collect data from users' everyday life. Recruited by using a snowball sampling technique, five users took and completed the test. From the analysis, we identified problems with our design and realized how to potentially improve the device in the future. The main conclusion that could be drawn was that Heart Rate-based interactive sounds can help users to reduce stress, but that most individuals were more willing to listen to steady sounds in order to relax. / I takt med att samhället utvecklas, utvecklas också ett hälsomedvetet tänkande bland samhällets individer. I denna studie designade vi ett ljud baserad på hjärtfrekvens för att undersöka hur ljud baserade på biodata kan påverka välmåendet hos individer. Vi använde oss av en mängd tillvägagångssätt för att analysera data och återkopplingen från användarna. Det så kallade ”Trier Social Stress Test” protokollet utgjorde testets grund. Därtill användes en samling kulturella stimulis som exempelvis foton, dagböcker och kort, vilka användes för att samla data från användarnas vardagliga liv. Fem användare rekryterades genom snöbollsmetoden, och genomförde sedan testet. Utifrån analysen fann vi problem med vår design och insåg hur vi eventuellt kunde förbättra apparaten i framtiden. Den huvudsakliga slutsatsen som kan dras var att ljud baserad på hjärtfrekvens kan hjälpa användare att minska stress, fastän de flesta individer hellre ville lyssna på mer konstanta ljud för att slappna av.

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Anxiety is a high-prevalence disorder, and it is often treated by medication which can be costly, has side effects, and is not available for everyone in need. Mindfulness-based interventions (MBIs) such as mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) and mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT) are great alternatives to treat anxiety. Both MBIs are not only more accessible but have no side effects as well. To establish whether MBIs can become a main treatment for anxiety, the associated neural correlates and changes should be investigated further. The aim of this systematic review is to investigate whether neural correlates of MBIs are mainly caused by emotional or attentional neural mechanisms, or if both are involved. There were five studies selected and included according to a set of inclusion and exclusion criteria. The results suggest that MBIs are in fact effective in alleviating anxiety symptoms by enhancing both emotion and attention regulation. However, several of the included studies came with limitations such as having no significance in p-values, no control groups, and small samples. Thus, further research is needed to draw a conclusion on whether MBIs are the best alternative for the alleviation and treatment of anxiety.

Although mindfulness interventions with college students have yield positive results, many students are not continuing to engage after the interventions. This may be because very little research has been done to investigate the health behavior beliefs of college students in regard to mindfulness for stress reduction. The purpose of this investigation was to identify the most influential components of the Integrated Behavioral Model (IBM) that potentially assist with predicting college student participation in mindfulness activities for stress reduction. Interviews, informed by the IBM, were conducted with 20 current college students and 5 current mindfulness instructors working with college students. The attitudes and perceived control constructs were most prominent for both samples with less participant reference to perceived norms. The most common engagement barriers for the college students, mentioned by both samples, were the lack of time and demands of school. The college student participants most often focused on the benefits of the practice whereas the instructor participants focused on the discomfort the students experience when engaging in mindfulness. Inconsistencies emerged when comparing the mindfulness definitions from the college student participants. Overall, the college student participants displayed positive health beliefs towards mindfulness for stress reduction. These findings could support future mindfulness research utilizing the IBM to further investigate college student participation in mindfulness activities.

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More and more people are affected by stress in their work lives, and it is in society’s interest to decrease the levels of stress [15]. There are several approaches that can be used to reduce stress, such as bodily exercises, digital aids, psychological treatment programs, or relaxation exercises. A new psychological program called Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT), originally used to prevent relapses in depression, can also help to treat stress. However, not much research has been conducted on the effects of MBCT to treat stress, and even less on how to design for web solutions for this treatment. The aim of this study is to investigate and explore how web solutions for mindfulness-based cognitive therapy used to treat stress can be designed, with the research question Based on an informed understanding of Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy, how might we, from a design perspective, design a novel web application for it? To investigate this, a research through design approach was used, and the method “future workshop” for the evaluation of the design prototype. The results of this study suggest that when designing websites for MBCT treatments, the most important features to include are visual representations of the patient’s progress and regulated home assignments. The visual representations should show the correlation between stressors and mood, and the regulation would provide assurance to the therapist that the patient does the home assignments. However, more research should be done to further explore the design space in web solutions for mindfulness-based cognitive therapy. / Fler och fler människor påverkas av stress på sina arbeten och det ligger i samhällets intresse att minska stressnivåerna [15]. Det finns flera tillvägagångssätt att minska stress, som exempelvis att göra kroppsliga övningar, använda digitala hjälpmedel, psykologiska behandlingsprogram eller avslappningsövningar. Ett nytt psykologiskt program kallat mindfulnessbaserad (medveten närvaro) kognitiv terapi (MBCT), ursprungligen använt för att förhindra återfall av depression, användas också för att behandla stress. Däremot har det inte gjorts mycket forskning om MBCT:s effekter för att behandla stress, och än mindre om hur man kan designa webblösningar för denna behandling. Målet för denna studie är att undersöka och utforska hur man kan designa webblösningar för mindfulnessbaserad kognitiv terapi som används för att behandla stress med frågeställningen Baserat på befintlig information om mindfulnessbaserad kognitiv terapi, hur kan man, från ett designperspektiv, designa en ny webbapplikation för den? För att undersöka det användes det iterativa tillvägagångssättet ”research through design” och metoden ”future workshop” för att utvärdera designprototypen. Denna studies resultat föreslår att de viktigaste funktionerna att inkludera i designandet av hemsidor för MCBCT-behandlingar är visuella representationer av patientens utveckling, samt reglerade hemuppgifter. De visuella representationerna borde visa korrelationen mellan stressorer och humör, och regleringen skulle garantera terapeuten att patienten gör hemuppgifterna. Däremot bör mer forskning göras för att ytterligare utforska designområdet inom webbaserade lösningar för mindfulnessbaserad kognitiv terapi.

The rapid growth of technology, including video games and mobile phones, has raised concerns about addiction and mental health. This study explores the feasibility of using the game Medieval Dynasty to alleviate mental stress. Through a literature review and empirical research, the paper examines the game's potential for stress reduction and psychological wellbeing. By analyzing data and observations from play sessions, this study highlights the benefits and limitations of the Medieval Dynasty as a stress management tool. The findings reveal that the game can reduce stress for some individuals but may evoke boredom or elevated stress in others. These findings contribute to understanding video games and stress reduction, offering insights for improving psychological well-being. Practical recommendations are provided for integrating the Medieval Dynasty into stress management strategies, emphasizing the importance of individual differences and preferences. This research underscores the potential of video games to promote psychological well-being and stress reduction. Understanding the complexities of using video games for stress management enables tailored interventions to enhance mental health outcomes in the digital era. Further research is needed to explore other factors influencing the game's effectiveness, such as game mechanics and gaming preferences.