Interpersonal and Intrapersonal Interventions to Manage the Stress of Living With a New Roommate Angelo M. Piner

Introduction

As we progress through the many milestones of life, we overcome countless obstacles and stressors associated with those achievements. The first day of kindergarten, the first day of playing on the football team, the first day of high school all of these life events present new and unique stressors associated with the experience. Perhaps the ultimate stressor in many young lives is attending university. A particular stressor associated with this transition is housing. Many freshman students do not live in the city of their university and therefore need to find some sort of housing. Many students stay in the dormitories on campus with randomly assigned roommates.

The thought of sharing a living space with a total stranger is a terrifying concept; however, the actuality of sharing a living space with a total stranger is completely manageable through the use of interpersonal and intrapersonal interventions. With an interpersonal intervention, the goal is to eliminate or reduce stress between more than one individual. An intrapersonal intervention aims to reduce or eliminate stress for a single individual. With these two interventions working in tandem, the stress of moving in with a new roommate can be managed efficiently.

To determine whether the use of interpersonal and intrapersonal interventions was successful in managing this new stressor, an initial stress assessment will be given at the start of the semester, and a final stress assessment will be given at the end of the semester. The assessment used will be the Perceived Stress Scale, an assessment used regularly to show the effectiveness of stress reducing interventions (Lane 2007). The Interpersonal Intervention

The first step to managing the stress of having a new roommate begins with an interpersonal intervention. In this intervention, the roommates (say, a total of three) will be required to express any and all concerns that they have with how their living environments will interact, what guidelines will be in place (chores, maintenance, guest visits, etc.), and what they expect from each other. They will create a written agreement and signing to adhere to the expectations set forth.

In a perfect world, all of the conditions and concerns put forth by each person will be respected; however, we are all human, and mistakes can happen. Should conflict arise from a breach of contract, the first step is to communicate the issues openly and freely and to discuss solutions to these problems. The interpersonal intervention gives a general structure to the way ideas are communicated, the expectations of each resident, and how to efficiently resolve conflict.

The Intrapersonal Intervention

The interpersonal intervention assists in managing stress of the group of roommates; however, this is insufficient is managing the stress of such a drastic change in living situation. In order to most efficiently manage this stress, an intrapersonal intervention is needed. The main focus of the intrapersonal intervention is to reduce or eliminate stress experienced by an individual (not a group of people). The intrapersonal intervention will occur over time and works based on the idea that Besse Mazur recommends for handling stress from living with roommates. Ms. Mazur suggests, not to sweat the small stuff (Mazur 2012). Essentially, one roommate should not be hounding the others about every minor issue that he or she has with them. This only creates tension between the residents. Rather, one needs to have an introspective discussion (Lane 2007) . Topics in this discussion should be thought provoking, and should be given thoughtful insights. An example of such a topic would be to ask oneself if, for example, one roommate leaving a dirty towel on the bathroom floor, if that really is such a bothering habit. Another question one could ask is is complaining and stressing about this really worth it?

Essentially, the individual is changing the way he or she thinks about one of these situations. The idea of changing the thought process of an individual is one of the hallmark dogmas of cognitive psychology. Dr. Bruce Campbell writes that taming ones thoughts (controlling how we evaluate and perceive our thoughts) can significantly reduce stress (Campbell 2013). By not sweating the small stuff and training oneself not to think of minor issues as horrible abominations, stress can be reduced in the residency.Discussion

In order to prove the effectiveness of interpersonal and intrapersonal interventions, a baseline Perceived Stress Scale (PSS) and a final PSS need to be administered. The baseline PSS will show the stress that the individual is currently experiencing before moving in with the new roommates. The final PSS will assess the stress experienced by the individual at the end of the semester. Should the of interpersonal and intrapersonal interventions be effective, then, when quantified:

PSS initial PSS final.In order for the above equality to be satisfied, all stressors not related to housing should be held constant. Through the use of interpersonal and intrapersonal interventions, the stress of moving in with a new roommate can be managed efficiently, easily recorded and measured, and even possibly eliminated.

Works Cited

Campbell, Bruce (2013). Taming Stressful Thoughts: Making Thoughts Work For You.General Format. Retrieved at

Lane, JD; Seskevich JE; Pieper CF (JanFeb 2007). "Brief meditation training can improve perceived stress and negative mood".Alternative Therapies in Health & Medicine13(1): 3844.Mazur, Bessie (2012). How to Handle the Stress of College Life and Living with

Roommates. General Format. Retrieved at