Figure 1
Average awakening times and taking the measurements [C (AW) = Cortisol after awakening; C (AW30) = Cortisol 30 minutes after awakening; C (E) = Evening cortisol; BP = Blood pressure] are shown in the upper part of the figure. Measurement days [d1–8 = measurement day; T1 = baseline, T2 = first intervention week, T3 = second intervention week, T4 = follow-up] are shown in the lower part of the figure.
Figure 2
Flowchart of participants.
Table 1
Main sample characteristics for cortisol for the baseline week (n = 88).
| Variables | Relaxation (n = 28) | Park walk (n = 29) | Control (n = 31) | p† |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Female, % | 89 | 90 | 87 | .94 |
| Higher education1, % | 46 | 50 | 47 | .53 |
| Age in years (mean) | 46 | 47 | 48 | .67 |
| Working h/w (mean) | 38.2 | 38.3 | 38.7 | .87 |
| Workload | 3.8 | 3.7 | 3.9 | .69 |
| Autonomy | 3.4 | 3.5 | 3.4 | .92 |
| Social support | 4.1 | 4.1 | 4.0 | .77 |
| Exhaustion | 1.9 | 2.0 | 2.2 | .67 |
| Awakening time, h (mean) | 6:23 | 6:17 | 6:10 | .44 |
| Cortisol2 AW | 16.0 | 18.5 | 16.0 | .65 |
| Cortisol2 AW+30 min | 30.3 | 31.1 | 28.7 | .77 |
| Cortisol2 bedtime | 4.8 | 4.3 | 4.7 | .85 |
[i] Notes. Abbreviation: AW = Awakening time.
1 Higher education = Master’s degree or higher.
2 Cortisol in nmol/l without log-transformation.
p† Refers to a chi-square test for categorical variables or to a F-test for continuous variables.
Table 2
Main sample characteristics for blood pressure for the baseline week (n = 151).
| Variables | Relaxation (n = 46) | Park walk (n = 51) | Control (n = 54) | p† |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Female, % | 91 | 92 | 87 | .64 |
| Higher education1, % | 54 | 44 | 28 | .02 |
| Age in years (mean) | 46 | 48 | 48 | .27 |
| Working h/w (mean) | 38.6 | 38.2 | 38.4 | .89 |
| Workload | 3.8 | 3.8 | 3.9 | .84 |
| Autonomy | 3.2 | 3.4 | 3.4 | .60 |
| Social support | 4.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 | .99 |
| Exhaustion | 1.8 | 2.0 | 2.2 | .21 |
| Awakening time, h (mean) | 6:18 | 6:15 | 6:15 | .61 |
| Morning SBP (mean) | 118.1 | 117.4 | 115.0 | .43 |
| Morning DBP | 74.7 | 75.1 | 72.8 | .35 |
| Afternoon SBP | 127.4 | 125.5 | 124.2 | .45 |
| Afternoon DBP | 79.3 | 78.6 | 77.5 | .51 |
| Evening SBP | 118.3 | 117.0 | 115.3 | .43 |
| Evening DBP | 72.8 | 73.0 | 71.6 | .57 |
[i] Notes. Abbreviations: SBP = Systolic blood pressure; DBP = Diastolic blood pressure; measured in mmHg OK.
1 Higher education = Master’s degree or higher.
p† Refers to a chi-square test for categorical variables or to a F-test for continuous variables.
Table 3
Mixed ANOVA results for cortisol.
| T1 | T2 | T3 | T4 | Δ T3–T1 | Cohen’s d | F-statistic | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| M | SD | M | SD | M | SD | M | SD | Time | Group | G × T | |||
| CARi | |||||||||||||
| Relax | 14.5 | 9.6 | 14.2 | 9.1 | 19.2 | 11.1 | 16.3 | 8.7 | 4.7 | .38 | 1.60 | .85 | .55 |
| Walk | 12.8 | 8.1 | 12.0 | 5.5 | 15.7 | 10.8 | 18.1 | 15.6 | 2.9 | .20 | |||
| Control | 12.7 | 5.0 | 13.3 | 8.1 | 14.1 | 8.5 | 14.0 | 13.5 | 1.4 | .16 | |||
| CDD | |||||||||||||
| Relax | 12.1 | 8.2 | 11.0 | 9.9 | 13.1 | 8.7 | 12.7 | 4.9 | 1.0 | .09 | 2.26 | .20 | 2.30* |
| Walk | 11.8 | 9.3 | 11.6 | 8.8 | 12.3 | 8.9 | 12.1 | 8.1 | 0.5 | .05 | |||
| Control | 10.9 | 8.8 | 16.6 | 14.4 | 11.8 | 9.6 | 15.4 | 11.5 | 0.9 | .11 | |||
[i] Notes. Means (M), standard deviations (SD), mean differences and Cohen d were calculated using non-transformed cortisol values; n = 28, 29, and 31, for relaxation, walk, and control groups respectively.
* p < .05.
Table 4
Mixed ANOVA results for blood pressure.
| T1 | T2 | T3 | T4 | Δ T3–T1 | Cohen’s d | F-statistic | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| M | SD | M | SD | M | SD | M | SD | Time | Group | G × T | |||
| Morning SBP | |||||||||||||
| Relax | 118.1 | 12.6 | 117.6 | 12.2 | 116.9 | 12.1 | 117.4 | 12.9 | –1.2 | .16 | 4.3** | 1.45 | .198 |
| Walk | 117.4 | 11.2 | 116.4 | 10.8 | 115.0 | 10.8 | 116.1 | 11.3 | –2.4 | .33 | |||
| Control | 114.9 | 13.5 | 114.2 | 11.2 | 112.3 | 14.0 | 113.6 | 12.4 | –2.6 | .39 | |||
| Morning DBP | |||||||||||||
| Relax | 74.7 | 8.1 | 73.7 | 7.8 | 73.8 | 7.7 | 74.8 | 7.8 | –0.9 | .18 | 4.86** | 1.22 | .435 |
| Walk | 75.1 | 8.0 | 73.7 | 7.6 | 73.2 | 7.8 | 74.0 | 8.2 | –1.9 | .44 | |||
| Control | 72.8 | 9.4 | 72.1 | 6.6 | 71.5 | 8.4 | 72.2 | 8.4 | –1.3 | .27 | |||
| Afternoon SBP | |||||||||||||
| Relax | 127.3 | 13.7 | 120.6 | 13.9 | 125.6 | 11.6 | 125.1 | 11.4 | –1.7 | .18 | 24.68*** | .89 | .15 |
| Walk | 125.5 | 9.5 | 119.8 | 9.7 | 121.3 | 9.3 | 124.8 | 10.0 | –4.2 | .58 | |||
| Control | 124.4 | 12.1 | 118.8 | 13.2 | 120.6 | 10.3 | 124.4 | 12.9 | –3.8 | .41 | |||
| Afternoon DBP | |||||||||||||
| Relax | 79.3 | 7.5 | 75.5 | 7.7 | 78.0 | 6.6 | 78.6 | 6.4 | –1.3 | .28 | 20.23*** | .94 | .69 |
| Walk | 78.6 | 7.1 | 75.6 | 7.3 | 76.1 | 7.0 | 78.9 | 7.5 | –2.5 | .51 | |||
| Control | 77.6 | 8.4 | 74.3 | 8.6 | 75.2 | 8.0 | 77.3 | 8.2 | –2.4 | .31 | |||
| Evening SBP | |||||||||||||
| Relax | 118.3 | 11.7 | 116.8 | 12.3 | 117.3 | 9.9 | 119.1 | 12.2 | –1.0 | .12 | 1.50 | .98 | 1.01 |
| Walk | 117.0 | 10.3 | 119.2 | 19.2 | 115.0 | 9.8 | 116.9 | 9.5 | –2.0 | .28 | |||
| Control | 115.3 | 12.3 | 115.8 | 14.1 | 114.2 | 11.0 | 115.1 | 12.0 | –1.1 | .15 | |||
| Evening DBP | |||||||||||||
| Relax | 72.8 | 6.7 | 72.8 | 8.9 | 72.8 | 7.5 | 74.1 | 7.7 | 0.0 | .00 | 1.59 | 1.02 | 1.03 |
| Walk | 73.2 | 7.7 | 75.0 | 17.5 | 71.3 | 7.7 | 72.6 | 6.7 | –1.9 | .36 | |||
| Control | 71.6 | 8.5 | 71.7 | 10.4 | 70.6 | 8.3 | 71.1 | 8.6 | –1.0 | .20 | |||
[i] Note. SBP = systolic blood pressure; DBP = diastolic blood pressure; n = 46, 51, and 54, for relaxation, walk, and control groups respectively.
*** p < .001, ** p < .01.