1. Teaching of Psychology
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Stress and Coping Activity : Reframing Negative Thoughts
Jamie S. Hughes, Mary K. Gourley, Laura Madson and Katya Le Blanc
Teaching of Psychology 2011 38: 36
DOI: 10.1177/0098628310390852
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2. Methods and Techniques
Teaching of Psychology
38(1) 36-39
Stress and Coping Activity: ª The Author(s) 2011
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Reframing Negative Thoughts DOI: 10.1177/0098628310390852
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Jamie S. Hughes,1 Mary K. Gourley,2 Laura Madson,3 and
Katya Le Blanc3
Abstract
Stress management and coping techniques are not only relevant in many psychology courses but also personally relevant for
undergraduate students. In this article, the authors describe an activity designed to provide students with practice evaluating
and challenging negative self-talk. Students responded to scenarios individually, were paired with another student to challenge
erroneous and negative thoughts, and then joined with another pair of students to discuss the activity generally. When compared
to students who heard a lecture about reframing and negative self-talk, students who participated in the activity were more likely
to advise negative thinkers to challenge their thoughts and beliefs.
Keywords
collaborative learning, stress management, coping, negative self-talk
In psychology courses, one of the most important and relevant their negative thoughts. The reframing activity utilizes the
topics for non–psychology majors is stress and coping. think, pair, square, and share technique. Students work
However, as class time is often limited, students may not learn individually, then find a partner, and finally join another pair
valuable coping skills. To help students learn these skills, we to complete activities (Lymna, 1981; Millis & Cottell, 1998).
developed a reframing activity. We used an interactive, discussion-based activity because such
Negative self-talk is often an automatic reaction to stressful activities enhance enjoyment and learning (Smith et al., 2009).
events. Reframing is a coping technique that assists one in To evaluate the effectiveness of the reframing activity, we
becoming aware of one’s internal monologue; reframing taught the activity and measured learning by asking students
widens one’s perspective of particularly challenging situations to apply their knowledge to a real-world setting. Students gave
(Seaward, 2006). Steps involved in reframing include becoming advice to a person with chronic negative thoughts. These open-
aware of one’s thoughts, evaluating content, and challenging ended answers were compared to answers provided by students
negative perceptions by questioning their validity. who had received a lecture regarding reframing of negative
Awareness of self-talk relates to emotional intelligence, self-talk. We predicted that students in the activity condition
self-awareness, and the regulation of emotions (Depape, would provide better advice to a negative thinker than would
Hakim-Larson, Voelker, Page, & Jackson, 2006). Furthermore, students in the lecture condition.
modification of negative self-talk is important in the process of
learning to regulate feelings. Morin (1995, 2005) suggested
that recognizing self-talk helps people reproduce perspectives Method
of others in private speech and incorporate multiple perspectives Participants
into social and emotional problem solving. Moreover, self-
A total of 143 students (79 female, 61 male, 3 unidentified)
awareness, monitoring, and communication of one’s thoughts,
from a midsize southwestern university participated. Students
feelings, and behaviors are essential prerequisites for healthy
emotional functioning (Saarni, 1999).
Although others have investigated the value of stress 1
Daemen College, Amherst, NY, USA
management courses for the promotion of stress reduction 2
Gaston College, Dallas, NC, USA
3
(Archer, 1986; Deffenbacher & Shepard, 1989; Romano, New Mexico State University, Las Cruces, NM, USA
1984; Somerville, Allen, Noble, & Sedgwick, 1984), to our
Corresponding Author:
knowledge there is no research examining the effectiveness Jamie S. Hughes, Daemen College, Department of Psychology, 4380 Main
of relatively short coping activities. The current activity helps Street, Amherst, NY 14226
students recognize self-talk in response to stressors and reframe Email: jhughes@daemen.edu
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3. Hughes et al. 37
were 19 years of age on average (SD ¼ 1.83). The two classes their answers to the question, ‘‘Based on this exercise, what
were similar in terms of demographics. In all, 63 students advice would you give a chronic negative thinker?’’ on the
(52% female) were in the activity condition and 80 students board, and an in-class discussion regarding stress and personality
(60% female) were in the lecture condition. The majority of styles ensued.
students reported that they were traditional students (activity Students who attended the lecture received information
89%, lecture 95%) in their freshman or sophomore year regarding the definition of stress, the connection between stress
(activity 87%, lecture 91%). and health, and common coping strategies. Importantly, we
provided information about negative self-talk. The instructor
taught students how to recognize negative self-talk and com-
Materials mon thinking mistakes. In addition, the instructor provided
Students read three scenarios describing stressful events they examples regarding how to challenge maladaptive cognitions.
might encounter. We drew events from a survey completed the
previous semester (see Appendix A). On the following page,
10 questions (see Appendix B) challenged common thinking
Results
mistakes and erroneous cognitions thought to lead to negative We used students’ practical application of the material via the
emotions or maladaptive behaviors (Beck, 1976; Ellis, 1994). advice they provided to a negative thinker to assess learning.
Following the questions, we provided space for positive We created categories based on a pilot test from the previous
reframes. Finally, students answered general discussion ques- semester. Course instructors analyzed and coded students’
tions designed to help them integrate their knowledge. We open-ended responses from their classes. The second author,
administered the learning measure immediately following the who was blind to condition, made final decisions regarding the
lecture or activity. Each student provided advice to a person coding of responses by assessing the extent to which the stu-
with chronic negative thoughts; students could list up to two dents’ statements matched the given category. Cohen’s kappa
pieces of advice, as we provided two spaces. Students also (k ¼ .70) showed that there was substantial agreement between
completed four items pertaining to their enjoyment and subjec- raters. We collapsed categories such as ‘‘think positive’’ and
tive learning. Students rated the extent to which the activity or ‘‘increase your self-confidence’’ to create six categories of
lecture was interesting, fun, and useful and the extent to which advice. The resulting categories included suggestions such as
they believed they had learned a coping strategy on 7-point (a) think positively or increase one’s self-esteem; (b) perform
scales ranging from 1 (very little) to 7 (very much). a distracting activity; (c) be patient, simply get over it, or don’t
worry about it; (d) seek social support from friends or a coun-
selor; (e) challenge erroneous beliefs or negative thoughts or
Design and Procedure examine the issue from multiple perspectives; and (f) problem
To evaluate learning outcomes, we compared a reframing solve by objectively weighing the plusses and minuses.
activity to a lecture about reframing. We introduced the activity The first three categories largely represented platitudes or
and lecture during the stress and psychological disorders sec- avoidant strategies. The last three categories provided specific
tion of the course schedule. However, students did not receive information about challenging thoughts, viewing situations
any prior information about the topic in either class, and we had from many perspectives, or directly coping with stressors.
not assigned the stress and health chapter in the textbook. Both To ensure that there were no systematic differences in per-
the reframing activity (taught by the first author) and the ceived stress between students in the lecture versus activity
lecture (taught by the fourth author) required approximately conditions, students answered the following question approxi-
40 minutes of class time. mately a week before the activity or lecture: ‘‘Compared to the
Students responded to each scenario individually by listing average person, to what extent are you currently experiencing
their thoughts and feelings. After this, the instructor provided stress?’’ Students in the activity (M ¼ 0.91, SD ¼ 1.49) and lec-
a rationale for engaging in the activity, stating that although ture conditions (M ¼ 1.20, SD ¼ 1.38) did not differ with
individuals may be unable to change a stressor, they are able regard to experienced or perceived stress, t(141) ¼ –1.23,
to change their reactions to it by learning to recognize, chal- p ¼ .22.
lenge, and change negative self-talk. Students paired with a We analyzed students’ advice by activity versus lecture con-
partner to challenge and reframe negative thoughts. As a pair, ditions using a chi-square test. We conducted separate analysis
they chose one of the scenarios and considered the questions for the two pieces of advice. Students who completed the
designed to challenge erroneous beliefs or cognitions. Based activity were more likely to suggest cognitive reframing or
on their answers to the questions, students wrote a positive problem-solving strategies, whereas students in the lecture
reframe for the scenario. Students repeated the activity by chal- were more likely to give cliched advice about positive thinking,
´
lenging their negative thoughts and writing reframes for an w2(5, N ¼ 140) ¼ 25.64, p < .01, V ¼ 0.43 (see Table 1). The
additional scenario of their choosing. Then, student pairs found second set of responses also showed a significant association
another partner pair (i.e., sat in groups of four) to discuss ques- between condition and the type of advice provided, w2(5,
tions that would help them to generalize and integrate their N ¼ 128) ¼ 15.98, p < .01, V ¼ 0.35, with a greater proportion
knowledge (see Appendix C). Finally, student groups wrote of students in the activity condition advising another to challenge
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4. 38 Teaching of Psychology 38(1)
Table 1. Percentage of Students Listing a Type of Advice by Condition
Advice Category Advice 1 Advice 2
Lecture (%) Activity (%) Lecture (%) Activity (%)
A. Think positively or increase your self-esteem 47.4 25.8 26.0 21.8
B. Perform an activity to distract yourself from the stressor 12.8 0.0 17.8 7.3
C. Be patient, get over it, or don’t worry about it 16.7 12.9 21.9 7.3
D. Seek social support from friends or a counselor 6.4 12.9 8.2 14.5
E. Challenge erroneous beliefs or examine the issue from multiple perspectives 12.8 40.0 15.0 40.0
F. Problem solve by objectively weighing the plusses and minuses 3.8 8.1 11.0 9.1
N ¼ 143.
negative thoughts or take other perspectives (see Table 1). students only when they are learning a new skill. In the future,
Finally, we collapsed the first and second pieces of advice and researchers could design experiments to examine these ques-
coded the problem solving, social support, and reframing items tions or investigate the possibility that active learning increases
with a 1 and coded the advice about positive thinking, patience, both short- and long-term retention of course material.
and performing activities with a 2. Responses coded with a 1 rep- There are a few limitations of the current study. Most impor-
resented concrete and active coping advice. Responses coded tant, random assignment between conditions was not possible.
with a 2 represented platitudes or avoidant coping strategies. Stu- Differences may exist between students who chose to sign up
dents in the activity condition were more likely to advise active for the two sections of the course. However, both classes were
coping (63% vs. 37%) and less likely to suggest passive coping on campus, used the same textbook, and were non–night
techniques (29% vs. 71%) than those in the lecture condition, classes, so it is unlikely that there were systematic differences
w2(1, N ¼ 268) ¼ 30.90, p < .01, V ¼ 0.34. in coping skills between the two. Furthermore, perceptions of
Finally, we created two scales for the survey items regarding stress did not differ between the two groups of students. Other
the extent to which students learned a coping technique and found limitations include demand effects and potential bias in the
the lecture or activity useful, fun, and interesting. We averaged coding of students’ open-ended responses. For example, it is
ratings that were related to learning (coping skills and usefulness; possible that the instructors unwittingly provoked demand
a ¼ .80) and enjoyment (fun and interesting; a ¼ .87). Our effects, as both were aware of the hypotheses and independent
analysis revealed that the reframing activity students (M ¼ variables.
5.00, SD ¼ 1.51) were more likely than those in the lecture The reframing activity educates students about controlling
(M ¼ 4.31, SD ¼ 1.31) to report that they learned a useful coping their own stress and negative self-talk. However, instructors
technique, t(138) ¼ 2.85, p < .01, d ¼ 0.49. Furthermore, students should not use it in lieu of a lesson on stress and its conse-
in the reframing condition reported more enjoyment of the quences because general information about stress and health
activity (M ¼ 4.82, SD ¼ 1.45) than did students in the lecture may increase the subjective value of coping techniques.
condition (M ¼ 3.64, SD ¼ 1.48), t(138) ¼ 4.72, p < .01, d ¼ 0.81. Instructors should highlight that reframing is a coping mechan-
ism; some individuals who are suffering from depressive and
anxiety symptoms should seek the advice of a professional
Discussion counselor or psychologist.
When asked to apply their knowledge in a practical setting (i.e., We recommend the reframing activity to instructors who
provide advice to someone who has chronic negative thoughts), would like to use an engaging teaching tool to discuss stress and
a greater proportion of students in the reframing activity condi- coping. Instructors can use this activity in a variety of courses
tion suggested people try to challenge their beliefs and thoughts such as introductory psychology, health psychology, abnormal
and to examine a stressor from many perspectives to reframe psychology, and others in which stress is a relevant topic. The
negative thoughts. Furthermore, compared to students in the reframing activity, like other active learning techniques, can
lecture condition, a greater proportion of students in the refram- increase comprehension and retention of course material (Bern-
ing activity condition suggested active coping techniques. stein, 1999) and can be conducive to lively discussions regard-
Finally, students who participated in the reframing activity ing self-awareness, pessimism, cognitive restructuring
reported they learned more and found the activity more enjoy- techniques, and other forms of active coping, such as problem
able than did those who received a lecture. solving and time management. The activity can be time-
Our data provide evidence that active, discussion-based consuming in large classrooms. Instructors wishing to shorten
learning techniques can be more effective for student learning the activity could ask student pairs to respond to only one sce-
outcomes than traditional lecture-based techniques. However, nario of their choice instead of two. Alternatively, instructors
researchers should investigate boundary conditions. For exam- could provide their own examples of negative self-talk and ask
ple, discussion-based techniques may be effective only with students to challenge erroneous beliefs (using self-created ques-
certain types of students (i.e., traditional students) or may assist tions or those provided in the appendixes).
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5. Hughes et al. 39
Appendix A Declaration of Conflicting Interests
The authors declared no potential conflicts of interests with respect
Stressful Event Scenarios to the authorship and/or publication of this article.
Students read the following scenarios. We drew events from a pilot Funding
test. Each scenario includes an example of a positive reframe. The The authors received no financial support for the research and/or
percentage of students listing the item is included in parentheses. authorship of this article.
1. You just bombed an exam. You really needed a good grade. References
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