As a professor of psychology and behavioral therapist, Prof. Dr. Silke Heuse and her team of the Stress Management Lab conduct research at the intersection of health psychology, environmental psychology, and business psychology. Their work focuses on developing an appropriate attitude toward stress and learning how to deal with it in a constructive way, rather than merely reducing stress.
Stress experiences are not simple a result of external demands. It is the result of an appraisal process of demands and resources. In case of any imbalances, we feel stress. Our team uses the transactional idea of Lazarus and Folkman who proposed that stress is the result of cognitive appraisal and reappraisal processes.
This idea can be applied to the work context (e.g., workplace health management), education as well as environmental challenges due to the changing climate.
It can also be investigated in different target groups such as employees and managers, students, people exposed with challenging life events or with regards to resilience in older age.
Research
Find our main research topics here:
Investigating job stress, we use Bakker and Demerouti’s Job Demands-Resources Model as a theoretical framework. It states that job stress occurs when demands exceed resources. On the other hand, resources can buffer detrimental effects of demands. Common outcomes are work engagement and performance as well as burnout, well-being and health. Publication: Fodor, D. P., Pohrt, A., Gekeler, B. S., Knoll, N., & Heuse, S. (2020). Intensity matters: The role of physical activity in the Job Demands-Resources model. Journal of Work and Organizational Psychology, 36(3), 223-229
Our research on students’ stress focusses on risk factors and typical stressors of students on the on hand, and how to deal with them on the other hand. Bakker’s Student Demands-Resources Model is used as theoretical framework. Publication: Grottke, J., Heuse, S. & Schüz, B. (2025). Understanding Perceived Stress in University Students: A Scoping Review of Key Risk Factors. Short oral. Conferences of the Section Health Psychology of the German Society of Psychology (DGPs), Salzburg, Austria.
Heuse, S. (2025). Supporting Student Academic Success and Well-Being: Managing Stress in Times of AI and Digital Overload. Oral presentation. GUS summit, Berlin, Germany.
Heuse, S., Grebe, J. & Esken, F. (2022). Sleep hygiene behaviour in students: An intended strategy to cope with stress?? Journal of Medical Psychology, 24, 23–28. DOI: 10.3233/JMP-220038
Eco-stress refers to stressful experiences resulting from direct exposure to or indirect confrontation with climate events and their consequences. Stress arises when such climate phenomena force us to adapt our behaviour and lifestyle in order to compensate for losses (e.g., due to flooding) or prevent more serious events in the future. Publication: Heuse, S. (2025). Eco-Stress als Motor for nachhaltiges Verhalten (Eco-Stress as a Driver for Sustainable Behaviour). Oral presentation. Conferences of the Section Health Psychology of the German Society of Psychology (DGPs), Salzburg, Austria. Heuse, S., Willkommen, S. & von Wissmann, I. (2024). Eco-Stress und seine Rolle für das Umweltschutzverhalten von Erwachsenen in Deutschland.Zeitschrift für Umweltpsychologie, 27(2), 296-311.
Stress Mindsets as introduced by Crum and colleagues encode individual understanding of stress by identifying its potential effects on health and performance as rather positive (stress-is-enhancing mindset) or negative (stress-is-debilitating mindset). The role of stress mindsets in the development of stress is being investigated, as well as how they can be changed through interventions. Publication: Heuse, S.(2024). Stress und Stress-Mindsets bei jungen Erwachsenen am Beispiel Schule und Studium. In Y. Hofmann (Hrsg.), Die psycho-soziale Situation von Studienanfänger*innen und Studierenden (S. 59-70). UniversitätsVerlagWebler.
Heuse, S. & Risius, U.-M. (2022). Stress bei Studierenden mit und ohne Nebenjob - Welche Rolle spielen Stress-Mindsets? Prävention und Gesundheitsförderung17, 379–384.
Beyond the idea of stress mindsets, stress leverage refers to the expectation that stress is something that can be controlled and utilized. Corresponding self-efficacy beliefs relate this expectation to our own abilities. Publication: Heuse, S. (2025). Gestresst am Arbeitsplatz – warum? (Work Stress – Why?). Poster presentation. AOWI2025-Conferences, Lüneburg, Germany.
Research projects
Students’ stressors and risk factors for stress (Jonas Grottke, in cooperation with Universität Bremen)
Stress at work – stress leverage (Silke Heuse)
“The wadden sea” – eco-stress as driver for pro-environmental behaviour during vacation on the island of Borkum (Silke Heuse & students of the Bachelor Psychology and Business Pyschology)
“Woods” – experiencing the woods as a place of stress-management and recreation (Silke Heuse & students of the Bachelors Psychology and Business Psychology)
Workshop
I ACT-workshop: 6 steps for a successful behaviour change
This workshop supports you in successfully pursuing your behavioural goals, such as managing stress. As there is no 1-fits-all-strategy to manage stress, the workshop aims at elaborating individual steps to an optimized behaviour.
Thank you so much for your interest in the work of the Stress-Management Lab! For our research and its application, we are interested to learn about your wishes and needs as well as find you as our cooperation partners.
Dr. Silke Heuse is the Programme Leader for Psychology and Vice Dean for the Business department at the University of Europe for Applied Sciences, Hamburg Campus.
