Effectiveness of a six session stress reduction program for groups Tom Van Daele a,1 , Chantal Van Audenhove a , Debora Vansteenwegen b , Dirk Hermans c , Omer Van den Bergh d,n a Policy Research Centre Welfare, Health and Family & Research Group on Health Psychology, University of Leuven, Belgium b Centre for the Psychology of Learning and Experimental Psychopathology & ISW Limits, University of Leuven, Belgium c Centre for the Psychology of Learning and Experimental Psychopathology, University of Leuven, Belgium d Research Group on Health Psychology, University of Leuven, Tiensestraat 102, 3000 Leuven, Belgium Received 5 March 2013; received in revised form 5 June 2013; accepted 7 October 2013 Available online 17 October 2013 KEYWORDS Stress reduction; Psychoeducation; Cognitive-behavioral; Intervention; Matched control; Design Abstract This study set out to determine the effectiveness of a 6-week cognitive-behavioral stress reduction course for groups. Two groups (intervention group N = 47; matched control group N = 47) completed questionnaires on stress, depression, anxiety, worrying, and stress manage- ment skills pre and post-intervention, at 6 months and at 1 year follow-up. Results showed decline for all symptoms in the intervention group (linear trends pso.05), whereas stress management skills remained stable. Clinically significant and reliable change for almost 30% of participants confirmed these findings. No such change was found for the control group. Overall, the data showed small but reliable, long-lasting effects. & 2013 Elsevier GmbH. All rights reserved. Introduction Lazarus and Folkman (1984) defined psychological stress as “… a particular relationship between the person and the environment that is appraised by the person as taxing or exceeding his or her resources and endangering his or her well-being.” Almost three decades later, chronic stress is considered a major burden in modern society, compromising both physical and mental health (American Psychological Association). High levels of self-perceived stress are, for example, closely related to several adverse health condi- tions like metabolic syndrome (Chandola, Brunner, & Marmot, 2006) and coronary heart disease (Jood, Redfors, Rosengren, Blomstrand, & Jern, 2009; Rosengren et al., 2004; Xu, Zhao, Guo, Yanhong, & Gao, 2009). There is also a clear link between high levels of stress and the subsequent onset of mental disorders such as depression (van Praag, 2004; Wang, 2005). Considering the scope of the burden of stress, no health service will ever be able to provide adequate treatment for all, even in more affluent countries (van't Veer-Tazelaar et al., 2009). This emphasizes the need for large scale 2212-6570/$ - see front matter & 2013 Elsevier GmbH. All rights reserved. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.mhp.2013.10.001 n Corresponding author. E-mail address: Omer.VandenBergh@ppw.kuleuven.be (O. Van den Bergh). 1 Currently at Thomas More University College, Antwerp, Belgium Mental Health & Prevention (2013) 1, 19–25