That’s a different thing, the actual control was as you describe (measuring stress markers over time). The thing mentioned appear to be an attempt to confirm so

That’s a different thing, the actual control was as you describe (measuring stress markers over time). The thing mentioned appear to be an attempt to confirm some previous study's finding about self-sufficiency, which is pretty much related to what you say about autonomy and control. Never assume bad science when bad journalism would suffice.