Category
Applied
Description
Stress is a significant issue amongst university students, and many interventions are being developed to decrease stress to increase the general well-being of students. The Office of Disability and Accommodation Support (ODAS) has developed a sensory room open to all residential students as an intervention to decrease stress. Methods: A quasi- experimental, non-equivalent group design was used with a convenience sample of university students (N = 58) recruited through the Office of Disability and Accommodation Support (ODAS). The experimental group sat in a sensory room for 20 minutes, while the control group engaged in routine ODAS activities while connected to monitors to assess GSR and HRV. Results: Repeated measures ANOVA analyses revealed a significant difference in stress between groups, with participants in the sensory room condition showing lower overall stress than the control group. GSR percent change further supported these findings, with the control group showing a 7% increase in stress and the experimental group showing a 9% decrease over time. Conclusions: Our findings suggest that sensory rooms may be an effective intervention for reducing physiological stress as assessed through different biomarkers in university students. Future research should be done to assess the long-term effects of sensory room usage as well as employing randomized designs to identify and strengthen causal relationships.
Assessing the Effectiveness of a Sensory Reduction Room
Applied
Stress is a significant issue amongst university students, and many interventions are being developed to decrease stress to increase the general well-being of students. The Office of Disability and Accommodation Support (ODAS) has developed a sensory room open to all residential students as an intervention to decrease stress. Methods: A quasi- experimental, non-equivalent group design was used with a convenience sample of university students (N = 58) recruited through the Office of Disability and Accommodation Support (ODAS). The experimental group sat in a sensory room for 20 minutes, while the control group engaged in routine ODAS activities while connected to monitors to assess GSR and HRV. Results: Repeated measures ANOVA analyses revealed a significant difference in stress between groups, with participants in the sensory room condition showing lower overall stress than the control group. GSR percent change further supported these findings, with the control group showing a 7% increase in stress and the experimental group showing a 9% decrease over time. Conclusions: Our findings suggest that sensory rooms may be an effective intervention for reducing physiological stress as assessed through different biomarkers in university students. Future research should be done to assess the long-term effects of sensory room usage as well as employing randomized designs to identify and strengthen causal relationships.
