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The present study investigated the effects of progressive relaxation training using an abridged form of Jacobson's (1938) relaxation exercises on the mean number of nocturnal sleep disturbances in a group of psychiatric inpatients. Nocturnal time-sampling observations were made during a 14 day base line to select Ss who averaged 1.5 sleep disturbances per night. Six women, ranging in age from 23 to 56 years, were classified as problem sleepers and were moved to a common bedroom, where a second 16 day base line was taken to control for changes in the nocturnal environment. After a brief introduction and demonstration, a tape recording of the relaxation exercises was played each night of the 20 day experimental period. Results indicate a statistically significant decrease (p < .05) in the mean number of sleep disturbances as compared to base line levels. Caution was suggested in interpreting the results due to the possibility of interaction between the performance of the relaxation exercises, alteration of the nocturnal environment, and Ss' hypnotic drug medication.

Prior work has provided support that women with breast cancer are hyper-responsive to stressful challenges and that Cognitive-Behavioral Stress Management (CBSM) interventions can lead to reductions in cortisol, a measure of physiological stress. It may follow that breast cancer patients would show decreases in cortisol levels if they are taught stress management techniques. The purpose of this study was to investigate post-intervention psychosocial processes (i.e., participants' perceptions of achieved specific skills targeted by CBSM and non-specific changes associated with the group experience) that may explain intervention-related changes in cortisol among a sample of women as they moved through medical treatment for non-metastatic breast cancer. It was hypothesized that (a) women receiving a 10-week, group-based stress management intervention during ongoing medical treatment for breast cancer would show reductions in late afternoon serum cortisol levels and (b) perceived ability to implement stress management skills or other experiences gained in the supportive group environment may explain changes in cortisol. Participants (N = 128) were women recruited 4-8 weeks post-surgery for non-metastatic breast cancer. Women were randomly assigned to receive either the 10-week CBSM intervention (N = 63) or a one-day psychoeducational seminar (n = 65). The intervention aimed to teach relaxation, cognitive restructuring, and interpersonal skills. Participants were assessed at study entry, 6 month follow-up (i.e., 3 months post-intervention) and 12 month follow-up (i.e., 6 months post-intervention). Latent Growth Curve Modeling (LGM) was used to test for differential effects of study condition on change over time in cortisol and the effects of specific and non-specific group processes on change in cortisol. Results indicated there was a significant effect of study condition on change over time in cortisol, relaxation skills, and assertiveness skills. There were not significant relationships between changes in cortisol and any of the components analyzed and mediation was not established using LGM. There was, however, a significant association between changes in an item that assessed cognitive restructuring and cortisol. Exploratory analyses of lagged (Time 2 controlling for Time 1) psychosocial processes mediating (Time 3 controlling for Time 2) cortisol changes were then conducted. Results indicated that condition's effect on cortisol approached significance and condition had a significant effect on the muscle relaxation component and cognitive restructuring item. Furthermore, there was evidence that intervention-related changes in confidence about using muscle relaxation and cognitive restructuring may help explain decreases in cortisol levels among this sample of women. Overall, this study demonstrated that a 10-week, CBSM intervention was associated with decreased cortisol levels and increased relaxation and assertiveness skills. Furthermore, there was a strong relationship between changes in cognitive restructuring and cortisol. Future research should investigate how changes in cortisol may be related to health behaviors and health outcomes among breast cancer patients.

The effectiveness of progressive relaxation training in decreasing the severity of neuroleptic-induced tardive dyskinesia (TD) was examined in the current study. Three residents at a county-owned nursing home who had been receiving neuroleptic medications for a number of years to treat severe mental illness participated in this study. A multiple baseline across subjects design was used to evaluate the effect of progressive relaxation training on the participant's orofacial TD symptomatology. The severity of each participant's orofacial TD was observed to improve when the intervention was introduced. Treatment integrity and IOA data that were collected indicate that the intervention was implemented at a high level of fidelity and that data were reliable. Thus, a clear functional relationship was established between progressive relaxation training and severity of orofacial TD in this study. Although the present study was preliminary in nature, the results that were obtained provide a basis upon which to develop a behavioral treatment protocol for managing TD.

The use of relaxation, desensitization, and relaxation plus desensitization in the treatment of primary dysmenorrhea was investigated in this study. Subjects were 45 university women who experienced either congestive or spasmodic dysmenorrhea. Each subject was individually treated in four, one-hour sessions during the first 20 days of her menstrual cycle. Subjects were divided into three groups: Group 1 obtained four hours of progressive relaxation training, group 2 was asked to self-relax while being administered scenes from a standardized menstrual hierarchy, and group 3 obtained both relaxation training and desensitization. Type of dysmenorrhea was assessed by the Menstrual Symptom Questionnaire (MSQ). Symptom intensity and duration were assessed by the Retrospective Symptom Scale, the Menstrual Semantic Differential, the Menstrual Activities Scale, and the Menstrual Behavior Scale, and were administered pre-test, posttest, and three-month follow-up. Skin temperature during session 4 was obtained to evaluate the level of relaxation. Differences among treatment groups were analyzed using a one-way analysis of variance. t-tests for correlated samples were used to analyze within group changes form pretreatment to posttreatment. Results suggest all three treatments to be equally effective in reducing symptoms, negative attitudes, pain mitigating behaviors, and invalid hours. Symptom relief was not associated with skin temperature increases. The possibility of placebo playing a role in these results cannot be ruled out. Finally, the division of primary dysmenorrhea into spasmodic and congestive types by the MSQ is inaccurate, most probably due to the confounding nature of the scoring system.

The relationships between muscle-tension level, motoric-activity level, and academic performance in the laboratory setting are investigated. Three participants were reinforced for reducing and increasing their tension levels, alternately, while engaged in a simulated academic task, and the effects of each on the rate of activity and academic performance were measured. Measures were also obtained on the rate of activity and occurrence of problem behavior in the subject's homes. Significant treatment differences were found which support a direct relationship between tension and activity level so that a decrease in EMG level was associated with a decrease in motoric activity, and an increase in EMG level was associated with an increase in motoric activity. The efficacy of using EMG biofeedback to train relaxation in children with activity-level problems to control their symptoms is supported, especially where such a technique can be used in a specific task-oriented situation.

The purpose of this study was to determine whether the Adaptive Behaviour group intervention effected a greater immediate positive change on 'poorly adapted' student locus of control, self esteem, group evaluation and perceived behaviour than Helping Skills, Relaxation Training or No Intervention group after eight weeks. The three independent variables - Adaptive Behaviour, Helping Skills and Relaxation Training Group Interventions - were devised and led by the Researcher and two school counsellors respectively. Measurement of the dependent variables was by the use of the following instruments pre-test and post-test: Locus of Control Scale for Children (Nowicki Strickland 1972); Coopersmith Self Esteem Inventory (Coopersmith, 1982); and researcher designed questionnaires. A pre-test post-test group design was used in the study. The subjects were years 7-9 High School students identified by Student Year Advisers and the Assistant Principal Student Welfare as being 'poorly adapted' and 'well adapted' to the school environment. Students were randomly allocated - in year groups - to the intervention and control groups. Results indicated no short term significant positive change in locus of control for any intervention or controlgroup; no short term significant positive change in self esteem for any intervention group; no significant correlation between locus of control and self esteem scores for any intervention group; positive pre and post-test group evaluations for all groups; some positive short term change in teacher and student perceptions of student behaviour in regard to all three interventions. In some cases students' behaviour in the experimental group (Group A) was perceived more positively by teachers and students. Some recommendations for further research are: replication of the study over a longer period of time with some modification to the experimental programme, the research design and methods of measurement.

Traditional treatment for insomnia has been chemotherapy-- despite short-term value and side effects. Need for an alternative has led to research on behavioral treatment methods for insomnia. Relaxation training has consistently produced effective results, but the limited research on biofeedback and stimulus control suggests that they too may be viable alternate treatment methods. The present research investigated electromyogram (EMG) biofeedback, pseudo-EMG biofeedback, relaxation, training, and stimulus control as methods of treating sleep-onset insomnia. Volunteers consisting of 12 males and 24 females were recruited through newspaper advertisements. Subjects had no known physical cause for insomnia and were either free of sleeping medication or kept their dosage constant during the study. Subjects were matched for age and sex, randomly assigned to one of the four treatment groups, then randomly assigned to one of three therapists. Results indicated that pretreatment EMG scores for the four groups were high but not significantly different-- while post treatment EMG scores were not significantly reduced. Pretreatment sleep-latency measures were high, but not significantly different from each other. Post treatment latency measures were significantly reduced, but not significantly different from each other. Correlation between EMG-change scores and sleep-latency-change measures was non-significant. Pretreatment nightly awakenings for the four groups were not significantly different. Post treatment awakenings for the four groups were significantly reduced, but not significantly different from each other. There were not significant interactions for therapist or treatment with any of the dependent variables.

This study was designed to compare the clinical effectiveness of EMG biofeedback and progressive relaxation training in the treatment of muscle tension headache. These procedures also were compared with a treatment-element control group. Results from this study indicated that EMG biofeedback, progressive relaxation, and the control procedures all led to significant improvements across sessions on EMG and most self-report measures. There was little evidence that either treatment technique was superior to the other or to the control procedures. Although in most cases there were rather large numerical differences between groups, these differences generally were not statistically significant. Analysis of correlations between EMG and self-report data revealed a pattern of variable but generally nonsignificant relationships. However, for the biofeedback and progressive relaxation groups, there were a number of highly significant correlations. The pattern of correlations suggested that the relationship between EMG tension and subjective headache pain may be better predicted by something other than a strict linear model.

Previous research suggested that sleep onset insomnia was significantly reduced with the use of relaxation techniques; however, the majority of these studies used college student populations with mild to moderate insomnia. The objective of the present study was to assess the effectiveness of using muscle relaxation training in a clinical population known to have sleeping difficulties—cancer patients. Results of this study suggest that muscle relaxation training is an effective technique to reduce sleep onset insomnia in cancer patients, and perhaps also in any clinical group. The technique seems especially promising since it was shown to be effective with severe insomniacs suffering severe medical problems. Results of the study were discussed in terms of possible explanations for the efficacy of the treatment, potential uses of the technique with other clinical populations, and ease of teaching nonpsychologist health professionals to treat with muscle relaxation training.