STRESS INOCULATION FOR REDUCTION OF BURNOUT - A CONSERVATION OF RESOURCES APPROACH

We evaluated the efficacy of two programs designed to reduce stress am ong nurses by increasing their coping resources. The interventions wer e based on principles of Stress Inoculation Training and Conservation of Reources stress theory. A dual resource intervention targeted the e nhancement of both social support and mastery resources. A single reso urce intervention targeted the enhancement of only mastery resources. Both interventions were contrasted to a no intervention control condit ion. Participants in the dual resource intervention experienced signif icant enhancements in social support and mastery compared to the no in tervention control. The social support enhancement persisted through a five-week follow-up. Participants in the dual resource intervention w ith low initial levels of social support or mastery experienced signif icant reductions in psychological distress. Participants in the single resource intervention experienced a slight enhancement in mastery com pared to the no intervention control. Implications for stress theory a nd the design of stress reduction programs are discussed.