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Background: Causes and consequences of chronic stress levels in the context of healthcare work are well examined. Nevertheless, the implementation and evaluation of high-quality interventions to reduce stress of healthcare workers is still missing. Internet and app-based interventions are a promising venue for providing interventions for stress reduction to a population that is otherwise difficult to reach due to shift work and time constraints in general. To do so, we developed the internet and app-based intervention (fitcor), a digital coaching of individual stress coping for health care workers. Methods: We applied the SPIRIT (Standard Protocol Items: Recommendations for Interventional Trials) statement as a guideline for the present protocol. A randomized controlled trial will be conducted. There are five different intervention groups and one waiting control group. To achieve the sample sizes required by power analysis (G*Power) (β-error 80%; effect size 0.25), the sample sizes of the respective scenarios will be at best as follows: 336 care workers from hospitals, 192 administrative health personnel, 145 care workers from stationary elderly care homes, and 145 care workers from ambulatory care providers in Germany. Participants will randomly be assigned to one of five different intervention groups. A crossover design with a waiting control group is planned. Interventions will be accompanied by three measurement points, first a baseline measure, second a post-intervention measure directly after completion of the intervention, and a follow-up measure 6 weeks after completion of the intervention. At all three measurement points, perceived team conflict, work-related experience patterns, personality, satisfaction with internet-based training, and back pain will be assessed using questionnaires, as well as heart rate variability, sleep quality, and daily movement will be recorded using an advanced sensor. Discussion: Workers in the health care sector increasingly face high job demands and stress levels. Traditional health interventions fail to reach the respective population due to organizational constraints. Implementation of digital health interventions has been found to improve stress coping behavior; however, the evidence in health care settings has not been established. To the best of our knowledge, fitcor is the first internet and app-based intervention to reduce stress among nursing and administrative health care personnel. Trial registration: The trial was registered at DRKS.de on 12 July 2021, registration number: DRKS00024605. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Depressive disorders occur frequently in adolescents. Maintenance of depression has been related to stress and stress coping., Method: The study describes which stress load and which strategies of stress coping are present in girls with major depression. 74 girls with major depression were compared to a normal control group with regard to stress symptoms and stress coping. All subjects were diagnosed with a structured clinical interview according to DSM-IV criteria. Stress and stress coping strategies were measured by standardized and validated questionnaires., Results: Girls with major depression had more symptoms of stress and were characterized by inadequate stress coping compared to the control group., Conclusion: These cross-sectional data show deficits in stress coping that might reinforce stress symptoms as well as degree of depression. However, cause and effect can only be clarified by a longitudinal design.