G, Pareek. (2003). The Effect of Relaxation Technique on Job Stress in relation to Blood Pressure, Hypertension and Heart Rate in Women Teachers. Unpublished. Ph.D., Education. Panjab University, Chandigarh.
The objectives of the study were: (1) To study the difference between high stressed and low stressed teachers in response to relaxation technique. (2a) To study the stress level of employed women teachers. (2b) To study the anxiety level of employed women teachers. (2c) To study the hypertension among employed women teachers. (2d) To study the blood pressure among employed women teachers. (2e) To study the heart rate among employed women teachers. (3) To study the effect of relaxation techniques on stress, anxiety, blood pressure, hypertension and heart rate among employed women teachers.
The hypotheses of the study were: (1) High stressed employed women teachers will show better response to relaxation techniques employed than the low stressed teachers. (2) There will be a significant difference in pre-test and post-test scores and values on variables of stress, anxiety, blood pressure and heart rate of employed women teachers in the experimental group. (3) There will be a significant impact of the relaxation techniques on the stress, anxiety, blood pressure, hypertension and heart rate among employed women teachers.
The sample comprised 114 teachers of class X and XII from Chandigarh and its surrounding areas, selected by multistage sampling technique.
Faculty Stress Index (FSI) by Gmelch, Lovrich and Wilke, IPAT Anxiety Scale by Samuel and Cattel and Biological Equipments were used for data collection.
Treatment was given by physical breathing relaxation and mental exercise. Experimental randomized control trails concurrent parallel study design was used by the researcher. The duration of treatment was two month.
The data were analyzed by percentages, mean, SD and t-test.
(1) The employed women teachers in the high stressed group showed significantly better response to relaxation technique as compared to low stressed employed women teachers. (2) There existed insignificant difference between low stressed and high stressed groups in respect of anxiety and systolic and diastolic pressure separately. (4) The employed women teachers in high stressed group had more normal heart rates than those of low stressed group. (5) Experimental group revealed that relaxation techniques helped them to reduce their stress, anxiety, blood pressure and heart rate levels significantly. (6) The relaxation therapy had powerful impact in reducing the stress level of experimental group teachers significantly. (7) The pre-test post-test difference on stress was significant. (8) The reduction in anxiety scores was found to be significant for experimental group. (9) The decrease diastolic and systolic pressure and heart rate value for experimental group was significant. (10) The relaxation therapy was able to reduce the stress, anxiety, blood pressure and heart rate levels of teachers in experimental group significantly.
Keyword(s): Relaxation Technique, Job Stress, Contemplation, Hypertension , Heart Rate, Women Teachers, Meditation and Consciousness Studies