Are your patients experiencing stress? Is it affecting their mental or physical health? If so, the STRAIN can help you assess their overall stress burden while providing you with a valuable new tool to add to your inventory of billable diagnostic measures.
The STRAIN is the first online stress assessment system that measures individuals’ lifetime exposure to different types of stress that may have implications for health. The system was developed by UCLA professor, Dr. George Slavich, and is intended to combine the reliability and sophistication of an interview-based measure of stress with the simplicity of a self-report instrument. To accomplish this, the STRAIN presents patients with one question at a time. Questions appear on the computer screen and, if enabled, they can also be read aloud to the user. To input an answer, patients simply touch the correct answer on the screen, if a tablet (e.g., iPAD) or touch-enabled computer screen is being used. If such a device is not available – for example, when the STRAIN is being taken at home – patients simply make their selection using a computer mouse. Since the questions are written in colloquial English, the STRAIN can be self-administered by patients or can be administered by an interviewer who follows the simple on-screen prompts.
The STRAIN is the first online stress assessment system that measures individuals’ lifetime exposure to different types of stress that may have implications for health. The system was developed by UCLA professor, Dr. George Slavich, and is intended to combine the reliability and sophistication of an interview-based measure of stress with the simplicity of a self-report instrument. To accomplish this, the STRAIN presents patients with one question at a time. Questions appear on the computer screen and, if enabled, they can also be read aloud to the user. To input an answer, patients simply touch the correct answer on the screen, if a tablet (e.g., iPAD) or touch-enabled computer screen is being used. If such a device is not available – for example, when the STRAIN is being taken at home – patients simply make their selection using a computer mouse. Since the questions are written in colloquial English, the STRAIN can be self-administered by patients or can be administered by an interviewer who follows the simple on-screen prompts.
Comprehensive Coverage: The STRAIN provides complete coverage of 96 different acute life events (e.g., deaths of relatives, job losses, negative health events, etc.) and chronic difficulties (e.g., ongoing health problems, work problems, relationship problems, financial problems, etc.) that affect lifespan health. Stressful early life experiences (e.g., childhood maltreatment or neglect, parental loss/separation, etc.) are also queried in extensive detail. For each stressor that is endorsed, patients are asked follow-up questions that assess each stressor’s severity, frequency, timing, and duration. We have an adolescent STRAIN and an adult STRAIN. Pick the version that's right for you!
Quick & Easy: If all of the STRAIN’s questions were printed out on paper, the interview would be 157 pages long. No one would ever complete the measure. In the context of the STRAIN’s unique automated interviewing environment, however, patients are able to easily answer all of the STRAIN’s core and follow-up questions in only 20 minutes!
Intelligent Logic: Intelligent logic enables the STRAIN to shape the interview over time based on a user’s responses. This gives the system the ability to automatically omit questions that are irrelevant for particular patients, such as female reproductive health questions for male patients and questions about children for patients without children.
Stress Exposure Indices: Based on the information collected, the STRAIN system produce up to 15 different life stress summary scores and life charts that summarize each patient's unique exposure to acute, chronic, and overall life stress. The system also produces several stress resilience scores that help providers and patients understand how resilient the patient is to stress. All of this information is summarized in an easy-to-read report that can be shown directly to patients when they complete the STRAIN. A PDF version of the report can also be instantly emailed to patients or their provider.
Rigorously Tested: The STRAIN has been rigorously tested in more than 40 scientific studies at UCLA, UCSF, Stanford, Harvard, MIT, and many other institutions. The key stress exposure indicators from the STRAIN have in turn been found to predict patients' mental and physical health, heart disease risk, metabolic health, and longevity.
Getting Started: Ready to get started? We will get a unique and secure STRAIN portal setup for you in a matter of days. Contact us today to get started.
Quick & Easy: If all of the STRAIN’s questions were printed out on paper, the interview would be 157 pages long. No one would ever complete the measure. In the context of the STRAIN’s unique automated interviewing environment, however, patients are able to easily answer all of the STRAIN’s core and follow-up questions in only 20 minutes!
Intelligent Logic: Intelligent logic enables the STRAIN to shape the interview over time based on a user’s responses. This gives the system the ability to automatically omit questions that are irrelevant for particular patients, such as female reproductive health questions for male patients and questions about children for patients without children.
Stress Exposure Indices: Based on the information collected, the STRAIN system produce up to 15 different life stress summary scores and life charts that summarize each patient's unique exposure to acute, chronic, and overall life stress. The system also produces several stress resilience scores that help providers and patients understand how resilient the patient is to stress. All of this information is summarized in an easy-to-read report that can be shown directly to patients when they complete the STRAIN. A PDF version of the report can also be instantly emailed to patients or their provider.
Rigorously Tested: The STRAIN has been rigorously tested in more than 40 scientific studies at UCLA, UCSF, Stanford, Harvard, MIT, and many other institutions. The key stress exposure indicators from the STRAIN have in turn been found to predict patients' mental and physical health, heart disease risk, metabolic health, and longevity.
Getting Started: Ready to get started? We will get a unique and secure STRAIN portal setup for you in a matter of days. Contact us today to get started.