With the joy of the holidays also comes stress. It hits you from all sides: gift-giving, financial burdens, crowded malls, packed calendars.

It all adds up.  

Dr. Amber Abernathy, assistant professor in Missouri State University’s psychology department and the Mary-Charlotte Bayles Shealy Chair in Conscientious Psychology, provides tips for coping. The first tip is simple: Be prepared. 

Abernathy’s interest is in personality and in conscientiousness – which is one of the big five personality traits. Some of her more recent research projects include the use of meditation and mindfulness to control physiological reactions, like increased heart rate, tension and other stress responses.

Read full transcript