Expectancy of Stress-Reducing Aromatherapy Effect and Performance on a Stress-Sensitive Cognitive Task

Table 2

Comparisons of aroma groups and prime subgroups baseline characteristics.

Mean (SD) score unless otherwise noted	Aroma groups			value	Prime groups		value
	Lavender	Coconut	Water		Prime	No-prime
	( = 27)	( = 27)	( = 27)		( = 40)	( = 41)
Age	59.1 (7.1)	57.5 (6.2)	56.5 (5.1)	.35	59.0 (6.2)	56.2 (5.9)	.06
Female (%)	77.8	85.2	74.1	.59	82.5	75.6	.45
Education (years)	16.0 (2.1)	15.8 (1.9)	16.0 (3.2)	.93	15.3 (2.3)	16.6 (2.6)	.04
TICS score	38.5 (3.9)	39.2 (3.3)	37.0 (3.9)	.11	38.4 (3.6)	37.9 (4.0)	.60
PSS score	15.7 (5.1)	18.2 (5.0)	16.2 (6.1)	.28	17.0 (4.9)	16.4 (6.0)	.64
Previous aroma use (%)	55.6	40.7	42.3	.49	40.0	52.5	.26
Expected effectiveness	70.4 (13.5)	71.4 (13.0)	71.5 (12.1)	.95	71.4 (11.7)	70.8 (13.8)	.84
Expected stress change	33.6 (19.9)	33.2 (17.4)	34.4 (18.3)	.99	33.6 (17.5)	33.8 (19.4)	.99

Abbreviations: PSS = Perceived Stress Scale, SD = standard deviation, TICS = the Modified Telephone Interview for Cognitive Status.
Dependent Variables: Expected effectiveness = expected aromatherapy effectiveness for stress reduction, Expected stress change = expected change in stress level from neutral VAS score of 50 (less than 50 means decreased stress).