Clinical Translation of the Research Article Titled “Changes in Diurnal Salivary Cortisol Levels in Response to an Acute Stressor in Healthy Young Adults”

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

9-2011

Abstract

Psychiatric nurses are well aware that too much stress can be a precursor to mental and physical illness and may exacerbate existing illness. Interventions used by psychiatric nurses to decrease stressors and modify patients’ reactions to stress include cognitive reframing, relaxation techniques, and psychotropic medications (Stein, 2011). To make full use of such interventions, psychiatric nurses also need to understand the physiological mechanisms that link too much stress to the development and exacerbation of illness and its potential research applications. The study titled “Changes in Salivary Diurnal Cortisol Levels in Response to an Acute Stressor in Healthy Young Adults” addresses one such physiological mechanism. The purpose of this clinical translation article is to explain further the physiological phenomenon studied, the methodology used, the results and their limitations, and the ways in which the results apply to practice and research.

Publication Title

Journal of the American Psychiatric Nurses Association

Volume

17

Issue

5

First Page

350

DOI of Published Version

10.1177/1078390311422564

Publisher

Sage Journals

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