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Cited by 44Mindfulness and Compassion InterventionsPsychometric Methodologies and TestingAnxiety, Depression, Psychometrics, Treatment, Cognitive Processes

The DOI matches its Crossref record; 49 of the 49 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.

Assessing momentary relaxation using the Relaxation State Questionnaire (RSQ)

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Steghaus, Sarah, Poth, Christian H.·2022·Scientific Reports
DOI 10.1038/s41598-022-20524-wPMC PMC9522935
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Abstract

Stress is ubiquitous in everyday life and hazardous for mental and physical health. To prevent or ameliorate stress-related disease, relaxation exercises aim to counteract stress by inducing short-lasting states of relaxation on a regular basis. Critically, current assessments capture the mid- and long-term consequences of relaxation, however, cannot measure its short-term effects on an individual's momentary psychological state. To address this problem, we developed the Relaxation State Questionnaire (RSQ). We assessed the psychometric quality of the questionnaire by investigating its item properties, reliability, and validity in an online study with 92 participants. Construct validity was examined through correlations with the Perceived Stress Questionnaire (PSQ; Fliege in https://doi.org/10.23668/PSYCHARCHIVES.2889 , 2009). An exploratory factor analysis revealed four factors capturing the momentary state of muscle tension, sleepiness, cardiovascular activity, and general relaxation. In a second online study with 99 participants, we conducted a confirmatory factor analysis. Results revealed high item loadings (0.70-0.91), excellent reliability (α = 0.86) and excellent fit indices, and a good construct validity of the RSQ. These findings establish the RSQ as a tool to measure momentary states of relaxation. As such, the RSQ opens up research of the immediate subjective effects and the effectiveness of relaxation exercises.

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  1. Varvogli, L. & Darviri, C. Stress management techniques: Evidence-based procedures that reduce stress and promote health. Health Sci. J. 5, 74–89 (2011).
  2. Norelli, S. K., Long, A. & Krepps, J. M. in StatPearls (StatPearls Publishing, 2021). at <http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK513238/>.
  3. Jacobson, E. You Must Relax (McGraw-Hill Book Company, Inc, 1934).
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  5. Eid, M., Gollwitzer, M. & Schmitt, M. Statistik und Forschungsmethoden Statistics and research methods (Beltz, 2017).
  6. Brown, T. A. Confirmatory factor analysis for applied research. (The Guilford Press, 2015).
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Metadata

Authors
Steghaus, S., & Poth, C. H.
Affiliations
Bielefeld University (DE)
Corresponding author
Steghaus, Sarah
ORCID
Venue
Scientific Reports
Publisher
Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Published
2022-09-29
Volume
12
Issue
1
Pages
16341-16341
ISSN
2045-2322 (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.1038/s41598-022-20524-w
PMC
PMC9522935
OpenAlex
W4297995548
Cited by
44
References
49
Citations by year
2026: 12 · 2025: 20 · 2024: 9 · 2023: 2 · 2022: 1
FWCI
7.31
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
Locations
  • Scientific Reports (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
  • PUB – Publications at Bielefeld University (Bielefeld University) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
Funders
Universität Bielefeld
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Mindfulness and Compassion Interventions
  • Social Sciences › Decision Sciences › Management Science and Operations Research › Psychometric Methodologies and Testing
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Anxiety, Depression, Psychometrics, Treatment, Cognitive Processes
Keywords
relaxation techniques, stress, psychometric validation, construct validity, reliability statistics, muscle tension, sleepiness, cardiovascular activity, subjective well-being, Perceived Stress Questionnaire
MeSH terms
Factor Analysis, Statistical, Humans, Psychometrics, Surveys and Questionnaires, Relaxation, Reproducibility of Results

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