Effects of a Neuroticism Intervention on Stress

Frequently experiencing stress has been linked to detrimental life outcomes such as health problems and reduced quality of life. Interventions that can reduce different aspects of stress are thus of critical practical relevance. Neuroticism is one of the strongest risk factors for stress and recent research has shown that neuroticism can be changed through targeted interventions. Building on these findings, we examined whether a digital neuroticism intervention can reduce stressor occurrence, stressor perception, and stress levels in the general public (N = 461). Combining experience sampling, daily diary, weekly, and monthly assessments, we examined how changes in different aspects of stress unfolded across the intervention period, whether effects differed between treatment groups targeting different levels of neuroticism, and how changes in stress and neuroticism were related to each other. We found significant changes in different aspects of stress across the intervention period, with the most pronounced changes occurring in the first weeks of the intervention. Moreover, intervention groups differed in their effects, providing initial evidence that intervention strategies targeting the state level of neuroticism are most successful to reduce stress. Finally, we found reciprocal transactions between stress and neuroticism across the intervention period, indicating that decreases in both constructs may reinforce each other over time, with robustness checks especially favoring the stress to neuroticism pathway. Taken together, the present study provides evidence for the practical utility of neuroticism interventions and initial insights into the mechanisms of stress and neuroticism change, helping to clarify their theorized relation.