Search Results (34)

Background: Hispanic college students face high stress, which may increase their risk for chronic stress-related health issues. Effective and accessible stress management strategies for this population remain limited. Objective: This pilot study filled a gap by studying the effects of psychological stress on diet and physical activity habits and evaluating the impact of moderate-intensity physical exercise (MIPE) and yoga interventions on chronic psychological stress and acute stress responses among Hispanic college students. Methods: A total of 18 Hispanic college students participated in a 6-week intervention consisting of either MIPE or yoga, conducted twice weekly. Anthropometric measurements and lifestyle data were collected at both pre- and post-intervention timepoints. Psychological stress was evaluated using the Perceived Stress Scale-10 (PSS-10), morning salivary cortisol concentrations, and the Trier Social Stress Test (TSST). Results: Before the intervention, both perceived stress scores and morning salivary cortisol concentrations were positively correlated with the frequency of sweetened beverage intake and negatively correlated with attitudes toward exercise. Psychological stress was not significantly reduced after MIPE or yoga interventions. The salivary cortisol response to TSST was significantly improved after the yoga intervention. Conclusions: Although this pilot exploratory study suggests that short-term yoga may have beneficial effects in managing acute stress response in Hispanic college students, the efficacy of the interventions needs to be tested and replicated in a fully powered trial. Full article

Background/Objectives: Mothers of infants admitted to the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) experience significant stress, which can have lasting effects on mental health and parent–infant bonding. This mixed-methods study aimed to explore maternal stress response, coping, and resilience by examining physiological stress markers and maternal narratives. Methods: A total of 28 mothers who had an infant hospitalized in the NICU within the past three years participated in a two-hour laboratory session, which included stress induction using the Trier Social Stress Test (TSST). Salivary cortisol (sCort) and heart rate variability (HRV) were measured to assess physiological responses. Results: Qualitative analysis of maternal narratives identified two distinct response patterns: an anger/trauma (AT) group (n = 7) and a gratitude/optimism (GO) group (n = 6), with the remaining 15 mothers classified as a mixed (M) group. GO mothers exhibited significantly higher cortisol reactivity during recovery compared to AT mothers (p < 0.01). While GO mothers had higher baseline HF-HRV, no significant between-group differences were found in HRV responses. Conclusions: Findings suggest that maternal perception of NICU experiences is associated with distinct physiological stress response patterns, highlighting the importance of stress appraisal and coping in maternal well-being. Full article

Background: Acute stress induction is essential in psychology research for understanding physiological and psychological responses. In this study, ‘acute stress’ refers to a short-term, immediate stress response—distinct from chronic, long-term stress exposure. Traditional methods, such as the Trier Social Stress Test (TSST), have ecological validity and resource-efficiency limitations. This study introduces the Interactive Multitask Performance Response Observation (IMPRO) protocol, a novel stress-induction method utilizing speech improvisation in a dynamic and unpredictable social setting. Methods: Thirty-five healthy adults (aged 18–38 years; 19 males, 16 females) participated in the study. The IMPRO protocol consisted of three speech improvisation tasks with increasing cognitive and social stressors. Salivary cortisol was used as a biochemical marker of acute stress, while electrodermal activity (EDA) provided real-time autonomic arousal measurements. Stress responses were assessed using paired t-tests for cortisol levels and repeated-measures ANOVA for EDA variations across experimental stages. Results: Salivary cortisol levels significantly increased from baseline (M = 2.68 nM, SD = 0.99) to post-task (M = 3.54 nM, SD = 1.25, p = 0.001, Cohen’s d = 0.59), confirming hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal (HPA) axis activation. EDA showed a significant rise during the anticipation phase (p < 0.001), peaking at the final task and decreasing during recovery (η² = 0.643). Conclusions: The IMPRO protocol effectively induces acute stress responses, providing a scalable, ecologically valid alternative to traditional stress paradigms. Its low-cost, adaptable design makes it ideal for research in psychology, neuroscience, and behavioral sciences. Future studies should explore its application in clinical populations and group settings. Full article

Background: With changes in the social environment typified by COVID-19, an increasing number of people are suffering from mental stress in interpersonal relationships and the resulting fatigue in recent years. L-ornithine oral ingestion reportedly suppresses the secretion of cortisol, a stress marker, through the hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal (HPA) axis. However, there is insufficient research to determine whether L-ornithine exerts an ameliorative effect on social stress. Therefore, in this study, we investigated how L-ornithine affects mental stress and fatigue after social stress in healthy participants. Methods: We randomly assigned 65 participants into two groups, ingesting orally either 1600 mg of L-ornithine or a placebo for 7 days. On the day of the Trier Social Stress Test (TSST), participants took test products one hour before the testing. We evaluated the effects on saliva cortisol and mood states, including fatigue. Results: While L-ornithine did not affect saliva cortisol levels, it significantly improved the fatigue–inertia and anger–hostility scales of the Profile of Mood States on the morning after the TSST in the L-ornithine group compared to the placebo group. Conclusions: In conclusion, L-ornithine could potentially improve interpersonal social-stress-associated fatigue without involving the HPA axis. Trial registration: UMIN Clinical Trials Registry: UMIN000048949. Full article

Psychosocial stress has been proposed to induce a redistribution of immune cells, but a comparison with an active placebo-psychosocial stress control condition is lacking so far. We investigated immune cell redistribution due to psychosocial stress compared to that resulting from an active placebo-psychosocial stress but otherwise identical control condition. Moreover, we tested for mediating effects of endocrine parameters and blood volume changes. The final study sample comprised 64 healthy young men who underwent either a psychosocial stress condition (Trier Social Stress Test; TSST; n = 38) or an active placebo-psychosocial stress control condition (PlacTSST; n = 26). Immune cell counts and hemoglobin, epinephrine, norepinephrine, ACTH, renin, and aldosterone levels, as well as those of saliva cortisol, were determined before and up to 30 min after the TSST/PlacTSST. The TSST induced greater increases in total leukocyte, monocyte, and lymphocyte levels as compared to the PlacTSST (p’s ≤ 0.001), but in not granulocyte counts. Neutrophil granulocyte counts increased in reaction to both the TSST and PlacTSST (p’s ≤ 0.001), while eosinophil and basophil granulocyte counts did not. The psychosocial stress-induced increases in immune cell counts from baseline to peak (i.e., +1 min after TSST cessation) were independently mediated by parallel increases in epinephrine (ab’s ≤ −0.43; 95% CIs [LLs ≤ −0.66; ULs ≤ −0.09]). Subsequent decreases in immune cell counts from +1 min to +10 min after psychosocial stress cessation were mediated by parallel epinephrine, renin, and blood volume decreases (ab’s ≥ 0.17; 95% CIs [LLs ≥ 0.02; ULs ≥ 0.35]). Our findings indicate that psychosocial stress specifically induces immune cell count increases in most leukocyte subpopulations that are not secondary to the physical or cognitive demands of the stress task. Increases in the number of circulating neutrophil granulocytes, however, are not psychosocial stress-specific and even occur in situations with a low probability of threat or harm. Our findings point to a major role of epinephrine in mediating stress-induced immune cell count increases and of epinephrine, renin, and blood volume changes in mediating subsequent immune cell count decreases from +1 min to +10 min after psychosocial stress cessation. Full article

Eysenck’s biopsychological model of stress posits that the extraversion–introversion distinction is associated with different thresholds of arousal, which in turn moderate the stress response. Although higher thresholds of activation have been reported in the context of physiological stress induction, more contemporary research has resulted in mixed findings. The objective of the current study was to revisit Eysenck’s biopsychological model of stress by examining associations between the two personality dimensions (extraversion–introversion and neuroticism–stability) and stress reactivity in response to the Trier Social Stress Test. A total of 122 participants aged 18 to 80 years were recruited. Participants completed a battery of questionnaires, including a personality questionnaire, and were exposed to the TSST, during which salivary cortisol and galvanic skin responses (GSR) were recorded. People scoring higher on extraversion displayed heightened GSR relative to people scoring lower on extraversion. Furthermore, sex-based analyses suggest that this association was driven by females. No significant associations were found for cortisol or with respect to the neuroticism–stability dimension of personality. These findings highlight the need to take a more nuanced approach to investigating the association between personality and stress reactivity, highlighting the importance of the stress induction protocol and the stress-sensitive system under investigation. Full article

Background: Physician burnout, characterized by chronic job-related stress leading to emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and reduced personal accomplishment. This cross-sectional study investigates cortisol reactivity in male physicians with burnout compared to healthy controls during an acute psychosocial stress test. Methods: Sixty male physicians (30 burnout, 30 healthy controls) participated between September 2019 and December 2021 to investigate the impact of burnout on cardiovascular health. Salivary cortisol levels were measured before and after a Trier Social Stress Test (TSST). Burnout was assessed with the Maslach Burnout Inventory-Human Services Survey (MBI-HSS). Covariates included age, BMI, and physical activity. Data were analyzed using repeated measures analysis and area under the curve analysis. Results: Male physicians with burnout exhibited significantly greater cortisol reactivity during the TSST, notably post-stress to 15 min post-stress. Emotional exhaustion correlated with reduced cortisol increase from pre-stress and smaller post-stress to 15- and 45-min declines. Discussion: Findings suggest heightened cortisol reactivity in male physicians with burnout, possibly reflecting initial chronic stress stages. This study highlights the necessity for long-term research on cortisol’s influence on cardiovascular health and stress responses across diverse groups. Conclusions: The findings contribute to comprehending physiological responses in burnout-afflicted physicians, emphasizing cortisol reactivity’s pivotal role in stress-related research and its potential health implications, particularly within the burnout context. Full article

Stress impacts prefrontal cortex (PFC) activity and modulates working memory performance. In a recent study, stimulating the dorsolateral PFC (dlPFC) using transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) interacted with social stress in modulating participants’ working memory. More specifically, stress disrupted the enhancing effects of dlPFC tDCS on working memory performance. The current study aimed to further explore these initial findings by randomizing healthy females to four experimental conditions (N = 130); stimulation (right dlPFC tDCS vs. sham) and stress manipulation (social stress vs. control). Participants performed cognitive tasks (i.e., visual working memory task and a visual declarative memory task) at baseline and post-stimulation. They also completed self-report measures of stress and anxiety. A significant stimulation × stress interaction was evident in the declarative memory (One-Card Learning, OCL) task, while working memory performance was unaffected. Though tDCS stimulation and stress did not interact to affect working memory, further research is warranted as these initial findings suggest that immediate visual-memory learning may be affected by these factors. The limited number of earlier studies, as well as the variability in their designs, provides additional impetus for studying the interactive effects of stress and tDCS on human visual learning. Full article

Human survival and wellbeing require appropriate responses to stress, including a highly coordinated and efficient nervous system control of the heart rhythm. During stress, a greater disinhibition of the vagal nerve is reflective of poor stress adaptability, which may be relevant in premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD)—a debilitating affective condition thought to be marked by dysregulated stress processing and sensitivity to allopregnanolone. In the present study, women with PMDD (n = 17) and healthy controls (n = 18), who did not take medication, smoke, or consume illicit drugs, and who were free of other psychiatric conditions, participated in the Trier Social Stress Test, during which we measured the high frequency of the heart rate (HF-HRV) and allopregnanolone using ultra-performance liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry. Relative to their baseline, women who have PMDD, but not the healthy controls, experienced a reduction in HF-HRV during stress anticipation (p ≤ 0.05) and stress (p ≤ 0.01). Their recovery from stress was significantly delayed (p ≤ 0.05). Absolute peak HF-HRV change from baseline was significantly predicted by baseline allopregnanolone only in the PMDD group (p ≤ 0.01). The present study shows how an interaction between stress and allopregnanolone—which have both been separately implicated in PMDD—underlies PMDD expression. Full article

Psychological stress affects the immune system and activates peripheral inflammatory pathways. Circulating cell-free DNA (cfDNA) is associated with systemic inflammation, and recent research indicates that cfDNA is an inflammatory marker that is sensitive to psychological stress in humans. The present study investigated the effects of acute stress on the kinetics of cfDNA in a within-subjects design. Twenty-nine males (mean age: 24.34 ± 4.08 years) underwent both the Trier Social Stress Test (TSST) and a resting condition. Blood samples were collected at two time points before and at 9 time points up to 105 min after both conditions. The cfDNA immediately increased 2-fold after the TSST and returned to baseline levels after 30 min after the test, showing that a brief psychological stressor was sufficient to evoke a robust and rapid increase in cfDNA levels. No associations were detected between perceived stress, whereas subjects with higher basal cfDNA levels showed higher increases. The rapid cfDNA regulation might be attributed to the transient activation of immune cells caused by neuroendocrine-immune activation. Further research is required to evaluate the reliability of cfDNA as a marker of neuroendocrine-immune activation, which could be used for diagnostics purposes or monitoring of treatment progression. Full article

This pilot repeated measures study aims to evaluate the dynamics of the autonomic nervous system (ANS), the hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal (HPA) axis, and/or their interplay with low-level inflammation in healthy schoolchildren during consecutive extrinsic stimuli. Twenty healthy schoolchildren and adolescents aged 11–14 years (12.5 ± 1.5) were consecutively exposed to an oral task (#2) and an arithmetic task (#3) (Trier Social Stress Test for Children (TSST-C)), lasting 5 min each, and a three-minute cellular phone call (#4). Salivary cortisol (SC) was sampled at baseline (#1) and immediately after each exposure (#2, 3, and 4). Baseline serum high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hsCRP) and cortisol levels were also assessed. ANS dynamics and complexity were measured using Sample Entropy (SampEn) at each experimental time period (#1–4). Baseline serum hCRP and cortisol correlated negatively to each other, while the ANS and HPA axis acute reactions to the three consecutive stimuli differed over time. The ANS adaptation to these stimuli included complexity modulation, which was not dependent on baseline hsCRP or cortisol, and weakened during the third stimulation. However, baseline hsCRP and cortisol had a weakening and an increasing effect on the HPA axis over time, respectively. We conclude that low-level inflammation and baseline morning cortisol level have no effect on ANS dynamics but influence the HPA axis response to consecutive external stimuli. Full article

Previous studies may have overstated the restorative benefits of natural environments by comparing them to low-quality urban environments. Few studies have compared the stress recovery effects across various park settings. Moreover, it is unclear how depressive symptoms affect these benefits. Depressive symptoms may lessen or boost the restorative effects of viewing nature. A total of 125 participants engaged in the Trier Social Stress Test (TSST) to induce stress and were then randomly assigned to view one of five 10 min video presentations depicting greened streets, lawns, plazas, forests, or watersides. Depressive symptoms experienced over the last month were measured using the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9). The analysis revealed that, while greened streets had a physio-psychological stress-relieving effect, they were not as effective as the four park settings. The skin conductance level (SCL) declined significantly in the forest group’s first and second halves of the recovery period. However, the difference between the four park settings was insignificant at the end of recovery. Subjects viewing the four park conditions (vs. the greened street) reported that perceived stress remained stable as individual depressive symptoms increased; subjects with higher depressive symptoms reported lower perceived stress under lawn conditions. However, the SCL did not show the same trend. Our findings may support the hypothesis that natural interventions may be especially beneficial for people suffering from subclinical depressive symptoms. We also found gender differences in perceived stress and SCL reduction across all five settings, which may be due to the differences in women’s and men’s perceptions and use of restorative environments, or their responses to stressors. Full article

Previous studies have explored the differences in moral judgments under normal situations and acute stress using the Trier Social Stress Test (TSST). The present study examined whether anticipatory stress (i.e., induced by an anticipated speech) could elicit similar effects and further explored the mediation of emotional responses between acute stress and moral judgments with a process-dissociation approach. Fifty-three undergraduate students (20 males and 33 females) were randomly assigned to the stress and control groups. In the first stage, they were instructed to prepare a public speech (the stress group) or just recall events during the previous vacation (the control group). In the second stage, they reported emotional valence and arousal for each moral dilemma in a set of 12 moral dilemmas, followed by judgments on moral acceptability of the agent’s action. The manipulation check confirmed that anticipatory stress was reliably induced, as indicated in both self-reported and physiological data. The traditional dilemma analysis revealed that participants in the stress group would make fewer utilitarian judgments than those in the control group. The process dissociation (PD) analyses further revealed that the stress group exhibited higher deontological inclinations than the control group, but no significant differences in utilitarian inclinations. Emotional valence played a mediating role in the association between stress and deontological inclinations. To sum up, our study extended the investigation of the relationship between acute stress and moral judgment to anticipatory stress, clarified its distinct impact on deontological and utilitarian inclinations, and revealed the mediating effect of emotional valence. Full article

Objective: Takotsubo syndrome (TTS) is characterized by transient left ventricular dysfunction, often elevated myocardial enzymes, and electrocardiographic changes. Previous studies suggested that an overstimulation of the sympathetic nervous system might cause TTS. However, the pathogenesis of TTS is largely unknown. Therefore, we investigated physiological stress reactivity with a standardized stress test in monozygotic twin sisters, only one of whom had experienced TTS. Methods: The 60-year-old Caucasian monozygotic twins, one with and one without a previous episode of TTS, were recruited in the Department of Cardiology at the University Hospital Zurich, Switzerland. We applied the Trier Social Stress Test (TSST) to investigate stress reactivity six weeks after the TTS. Hemodynamic measures (heart rate (HR), blood pressure (BP)), heart rate variability (HRV), plasma norepinephrine and epinephrine and salivary cortisol levels were collected immediately before and after the TSST, and 15, 45, and 90 min after TSST. The monozygotic twins differed in their hemodynamic stress response with the TTS twin showing blunted HR and BP reactivity and vagal withdrawal beyond the acute phase of stress. In contrast, the TTS twin showed a higher catecholamine and cortisol stress response with a steady increase in norepinephrine during the recovery period from stress compared to her non-TTS twin sister. Conclusion: Large studies applying a case-control design are needed to confirm blunted hemodynamic reactivity, increased catecholamine reactivity, vagal withdrawal, and increased cortisol reactivity to stress in TTS. This may advance the knowledge of psychophysiological mechanisms in TTS. Full article

As people’s levels of stress increase with the complexity of contemporary urban life, the stress healing agenda in built environments has become more critical than ever. Previous research has demonstrated that linear and nonlinear shapes in the environment have an impact on human stress recovery. However, to date, most studies have focused on indoor and outdoor spaces, while research on transitional spaces is still limited. Transitional spaces connect the interior with the exterior and are ubiquitous in the city, such as plazas, open cafes, and urban corridors. We hypothesize that curved and linear environments affect human stress recovery differently in transitional spaces. To test this hypothesis, virtual reality (VR) technology and experiments were conducted with 40 participants. At the end of the Trier Social Stress Test (TSST), participants were randomly assigned to four VR environments to test which environment is more effective in stress recovery for humans. Participants’ physiological data, including heart rate and blood pressure, were measured by bio-monitoring sensors. The psychological data were tested by the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI). In general, the resulting data indicate that the curved environment is more effective than the linear environment for the recovery of human stress in transitional spaces. Full article