One SMS a day keeps the stress away? A just‐in‐time planning intervention to reduce occupational stress among apprentices

Abstract

Background: Occupational stress is one of the main sources of stress in apprentices with physical and psychological health consequences. Just-in-time planning interventions (JITPIs) are one opportunity to deliver intervention components at the right times and locations to optimally support apprentices in stressful situations. The aim of this study was to test the proximal effect of a mobile phone-delivered JITPI to reduce occupational stress in 386 apprentices within a planning intervention.

Methods: An AB/BA crossover design in which participants were randomly allocated to (A) the planning intervention or (B) the assessment only condition was implemented.

Results: The analyses of the study “ready4life”, multilevel modeling, revealed no significant effect of the planning intervention on occupational stress reduction.

Conclusions: Possible reasons for the missing effect might be the low stress level of participants or the type of the intervention delivery. Since apprenticeships in Switzerland differ considerably, future studies should enable more adapted interventions for the apprentices and consider individual circumstances of stress. Further, the intervention should focus on apprentices with high occupational stress levels or a high-risk of stress. Studies should investigate exactly when and why a person needs support regarding her/his occupational stress. Therefore, objective measurements of stress could be helpful.