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Impact of Williams LifeSkills® training on anger, anxiety, and ambulatory blood pressure in adolescents

  • Original Research
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Translational Behavioral Medicine

ABSTRACT

The Williams LifeSkills® (WLS) anger and stress management workshop provides training in strategies to cope with stressful situations and build supportive relationships. The purpose of this study was to determine the impact of school-based Williams LifeSkills training on anger, anxiety, and blood pressure in adolescents. One hundred fifty-nine adolescents (mean age ± SD = 15.7 ± 1.4 years) were randomized to WLS (n = 86) or control (CTL, n = 73) groups. The WLS group engaged in twelve 50-min WLS training sessions conducted by teachers at school. Anger-in and anxiety scores decreased and anger-control scores increased in the WLS group across the six-month follow-up period compared to the CTL group (group x visit, ps < 0.05). Daytime diastolic BP was lower across the follow-up in the WLS group (p = 0.08). DBP was significantly lower across the follow-up period in the WLS group among those with higher SBP at baseline (p = 0.04). These findings demonstrate beneficial impact of WLS upon self-reported anger-in, anger control, anxiety levels, and ambulatory DBP in the natural environment in healthy normotensive youth.

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Acknowledgments

We would like to thank Dr. C. Larke, Superintendent; teachers, and staff at T.W. Josey and Academy of Richmond County High Schools, for their assistance and cooperation in providing the facilities for this study. We also gratefully acknowledge the following research assistants who assisted with data gathering and other aspects of the study. Research assistants who assisted with data collection were V. Pradeep Shenbagarajan, Amanda Stevens Murrell and Christy Dubert. Greg Slavens, Ankur Pogula and Shawntel Parker assisted with data management and system analysis.

Disclosure

Redford and Virginia Williams are founders and major stockholders in Williams LifeSkills, Inc.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Pediatrics, Georgia Health Sciences University, Augusta, GA, USA

    Vernon A Barnes PhD

  2. Department of Biostatistics, Georgia Health Sciences University, Augusta, GA, USA

    Maribeth H Johnson MS

  3. Behavioral Medicine Research Center, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC, USA

    Redford B Williams MD

  4. Williams LifeSkills, Inc, Durham, NC, USA

    Virginia P Williams PhD

Authors
  1. Vernon A Barnes PhD
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  2. Maribeth H Johnson MS
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  3. Redford B Williams MD
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  4. Virginia P Williams PhD
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Vernon A Barnes PhD.

Additional information

Clinicaltrials.gov registration

#NCT00508612

Grant funding

This research was supported by a STTR award from the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, National Institutes of Health (HL072644).

Implications

Policy: Helping students develop good coping skills may help to curtail violence through anger management and improve mental health by increasing students' abilities to cope with stress.

Research: A blood pressure-reducing intervention embedded in the school curriculum could have a significant positive impact on public health.

Practice: An effective, easily delivered new method is available to deliver anger and stress management through coping skills training to high school students.

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Barnes, V.A., Johnson, M.H., Williams, R.B. et al. Impact of Williams LifeSkills® training on anger, anxiety, and ambulatory blood pressure in adolescents. Behav. Med. Pract. Policy Res. 2, 401–410 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13142-012-0162-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13142-012-0162-3

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