In recent years, the field of stress management research has evolved in many ways. In addition to the use of new techniques to collect psychobiological stress indicators, the focus has also broadened towards interventions that are close to everyday life using digital technologies. Already well-evaluated face-to-face intervention approaches based on cognitive-behavioral principles are increasingly finding translation into everyday life, for example, by integrating them in the field using tablets or smartphones. In addition, there is increasing effort in evaluating the effectiveness of these interventions by using psychobiological indicators in the field. New sensors, the availability of broadband networks, and the rapidly development of virtual reality (VR) technology allow for new approaches to intervention and measurement.
With this Article Collection, we would like to compile and integrate state-of-the-art studies on new approaches in the context of stress management studies. Welcome are original papers, reviews, and commentaries from all relevant fields of stress interventions (e.g. relaxation techniques, mindfulness-based stress reduction, meditation, yoga, physical activity, multimodal approaches, psychoeducation, social support, etc.) that have a psychobiological focus, i.e. that survey psychobiological and neural stress indicators. Also welcome are studies that use new technologies (e.g., use of mobile devices, VR environments, or ecological momentary assessment) to either create novel intervention environments or enable the measurement in settings that are closer to everyday life. Studies in clinical populations are within the scope as long as the focus is on biological endpoints.
Gregor Domes has studied psychology at the Universities of Trier und Tübingen, Germany. After his PhD on stress and memory functioning, his research during his postdoc focused on the neural effects of neuropeptides on social cognition and behavior at the Universities in Rostock, Zurich and Freiburg. Since 2016 he is full professor and head of the Department of Biological and Clinical Psychology at the University of Trier with a main research focus on the social effects of acute stress and stress hormones in health and mental illness. He is also director of the psychotherapy outpatient unit specialized on stress-related disorders.
Bernadette von Dawans has studied Psychology at the University of Osnabrück and Zurich. She studied the effects of neuropeptides on social behavior in health and social phobia during her PhD at the University of Zurich. Within her postdoc at the University of Zurich and Freiburg, she expanded her studies towards the development of stress induction methods as well as the effects of stress, social behavior, and stress management techniques. Since 2017 she is Associate Prof. at the University of Trier, Biological and Clinical Psychology, and is co-director of the psychotherapy outpatient unit specialized on stress-related disorders.
Disclosure Statement: The Guest Advisors have no conflicts of interest to disclose regarding this work.
