scholarly journals Psychophysiological Stress Reactivity Relationships across the Menstrual Cycle

2015 ◽  
Vol 2015 ◽  
pp. 1-5 ◽  
Author(s):  
Karen C. Olson ◽  
Haley A. Carroll ◽  
M. Kathleen B. Lustyk
Keyword(s):  
Menstrual Cycle ◽  
Trait Anxiety ◽  
Stress Responses ◽  
Luteal Phase ◽  
Protective Factor ◽  
Stress Reactivity ◽  
Acute Stress ◽  
Physiological Stress ◽  
Psychophysiological Stress ◽  
Autonomic Perception

While evidence suggests that women exhibit psychophysiological differences in stress reactivity across the menstrual cycle, the relationships among psychological and physiological stress reactivity states are not well understood. Healthy, normally cycling women (N=44) participated in two counterbalanced laboratory sessions during the follicular and luteal phases where heart rate and subjective stress were assessed in response to stressors. There were no differences in the magnitudes of psychophysiological stress responses across the cycle. Psychological and physiological states were largely unrelated in the follicular phase but interrelationships were found in the luteal phase and these relationships were influenced by autonomic perception and trait anxiety. For women with high trait anxiety, autonomic perception appeared to buffer psychological and physiological stress reactivity during the luteal phase, suggesting that autonomic perception may be a protective factor for more anxious women during times of acute stress.

Associations between multisystem stress reactivity and peer nominated aggression in early childhood vary by sex

2020 ◽  
Vol 32 (5) ◽  
pp. 1888-1898
Author(s):  
Melissa J. Hagan ◽  
Danielle S. Roubinov ◽  
W. Thomas Boyce ◽  
Nicole R. Bush
Keyword(s):  
Early Childhood ◽  
Relational Aggression ◽  
Stress Responses ◽  
Physical Aggression ◽  
Stress Reactivity ◽  
Physiological Stress ◽  
Kindergarten Children ◽  
Peer Ratings ◽  
Cortisol Reactivity ◽  
Physiological Stress Response

AbstractThere is emerging evidence that the development of problematic aggression in childhood may be associated with specific physiological stress response patterns, with both biological overactivation and underactivation implicated. This study tested associations between sex-specific patterns of stress responses across the sympathetic nervous system (SNS) and hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal (HPA) axis and peer nominations of aggression among 271 kindergarten children (Mean age = 5.32 years; 52% Female; 44% White). Upon entry to kindergarten, children participated in a multidomain standardized stress paradigm. Changes in pre-ejection period (PEP) and salivary cortisol were assessed. On a separate day, children provided peer ratings of physical and relational aggression in a standardized interview. As expected, there was a significant three-way interaction between PEP, cortisol reactivity, and sex, but only for physical aggression. Among boys, cortisol reactivity was positively associated with physical aggression only for those with higher SNS reactivity. Findings suggest that for boys, asymmetrical and symmetrical HPA/SNS reactivity may be associated with lower and higher risk for peer-directed physical aggression, respectively. Understanding the complex associations between multisystem physiology, child sex and peer-directed aggression in early childhood may offer insight into individual differences underlying the emergence of behavioral dysregulation in early peer contexts.

scholarly journals The Effect of Extensive Human Presence at an Early Age on Stress Responses and Reactivity of Juvenile Ostriches towards Humans

Animals ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (10) ◽  
pp. 175 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pfunzo Muvhali ◽  
Maud Bonato ◽  
Anel Engelbrecht ◽  
Irek Malecki ◽  
Denise Hough ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Stress Responses ◽  
Acute Stress ◽  
Physiological Stress ◽  
Visual Stimuli ◽  
Stress Sensitivity ◽  
Physical Contact ◽  
Early Age ◽  
Human Presence ◽  
Human Voice ◽  
Sexual Display

The effect of extensive human presence and regular gentle handling performed at an early age (0–3 months old) on stress responses and reactivity of juvenile ostriches towards humans was investigated. A total of 416 ostrich chicks over two years were exposed to one of three treatments for three months after hatching; namely, Human Presence 1 (HP1, N = 144): extensive/prolonged human presence with physical contact (touch, stroking), gentle human voice, and visual stimuli; Human Presence 2 (HP2, N = 136): extensive/prolonged human presence without physical contact, but with gentle human voice and visual stimuli; and the Standard treatment (S, N = 136): human presence limited to routine feed and water supply as a control. At 7.5 months of age, the plasma heterophil/lymphocyte (H/L) ratio was measured before and 72 h after feather harvesting and feather clipping to determine acute stress responses, while chronic stress was measured by quantification of corticosterone (CORT) concentrations in the floss feathers of the birds. Birds’ behavioural response towards a familiar or an unfamiliar handler was evaluated at 12 months using docility and fear tests, and through behavioural observations conducted on random days between the ages of 8–13 months. Willingness to approach, and to allow touch interactions, aggressiveness, and exhibition of sexual display towards the handler, was recorded. No difference in the H/L ratios before and after feather harvesting and clipping was observed in HP1 birds, whereas H/L ratios showed a significant increase 72 h post feather harvesting and clipping in HP2 and S birds (p < 0.05). Birds from the S treatment exhibited a significantly (p < 0.05) higher feather CORT concentration compared with HP1 birds, while HP2 birds had intermediate responses. Birds’ reactivity towards humans and temperament as evaluated using behavioural observations, docility, and fear tests was not affected by treatment (p > 0.05). However, HP1 and HP2 birds were more inclined (p < 0.05) to approach a familiar rather than an unfamiliar handler during the behavioural observations, indicating an ability to distinguish between a familiar and an unfamiliar handler. Overall, the results indicate that early gentle human interactions with ostrich chicks can be beneficial in reducing physiological stress sensitivity later in life and facilitate the ability of ostriches to distinguish between familiar and unfamiliar handlers.

Stress and Substance Misuse

2020 ◽  
pp. 101-118
Author(s):  
James M. Bjork ◽  
Nicholas D. Thomson
Keyword(s):  
Substance Use ◽  
Stress Response ◽  
Stress Responses ◽  
Acute Stress ◽  
Physiological Stress ◽  
Solution Space ◽  
Chronic Administration ◽  
Behavioral Repertoire ◽  
Physiological Stress Response ◽  
Response Systems

Stress is both a critical contributor and consequence of substance use disorder (SUD). First, exaggerated subjective stress responses are characteristic of affective symptomatology such as depression, bipolar disorder, generalized anxiety, and posttraumatic stress disorder (sometimes stemming from histories of abuse) that have been prognostic of development of addiction in longitudinal studies. Substance use is negatively reinforced in many at-risk and addicted individuals because it may acutely alleviate stress. Second, chronic administration of commonly abused substances alters physiological stress response systems, especially during acute withdrawal. Third, acute stress responses blunt the addicted individual’s frontocortically mediated behavioral repertoire (solution space) in favor of reflexive behavioral biases toward relief-based substance use. Therefore, acute stress responses are a strong trigger for relapse to substance use during extended recovery. These findings have collectively led to approaches to SUD relapse prevention that pharmacologically blunt components of the stress response, but these agents have not reliably shown success in human clinical trials. This chapter reviews these different relationships between stress and addiction and offers future avenues for additional research.

scholarly journals Protocol of the STRess at Work (STRAW) Project: How to Disentangle Day-to-Day Occupational Stress among Academics Based on EMA, Physiological Data, and Smartphone Sensor and Usage Data

2020 ◽  
Vol 17 (23) ◽  
pp. 8835
Author(s):  
Larissa Bolliger ◽  
Junoš Lukan ◽  
Mitja Luštrek ◽  
Dirk De Bacquer ◽  
Els Clays
Keyword(s):  
Risk Factors ◽  
Work Environment ◽  
Occupational Stress ◽  
Stress Responses ◽  
Prediction Models ◽  
Acute Stress ◽  
Physiological Stress ◽  
Physiological Data ◽  
Smartphone Sensor ◽  
Usage Data

Several studies have reported on increasing psychosocial stress in academia due to work environment risk factors like job insecurity, work-family conflict, research grant applications, and high workload. The STRAW project adds novel aspects to occupational stress research among academic staff by measuring day-to-day stress in their real-world work environments over 15 working days. Work environment risk factors, stress outcomes, health-related behaviors, and work activities were measured repeatedly via an ecological momentary assessment (EMA), specially developed for this project. These results were combined with continuously tracked physiological stress responses using wearable devices and smartphone sensor and usage data. These data provide information on workplace context using our self-developed Android smartphone app. The data were analyzed using two approaches: 1) multilevel statistical modelling for repeated data to analyze relations between work environment risk factors and stress outcomes on a within- and between-person level, based on EMA results and a baseline screening, and 2) machine-learning focusing on building prediction models to develop and evaluate acute stress detection models, based on physiological data and smartphone sensor and usage data. Linking these data collection and analysis approaches enabled us to disentangle and model sources, outcomes, and contexts of occupational stress in academia.

Stream habitat and rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) physiological stress responses to streamside clear-cut logging in British Columbia

2005 ◽  
Vol 35 (3) ◽  
pp. 541-556 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eric Mellina ◽  
Scott G Hinch ◽  
Edward M Donaldson ◽  
Greg Pearson
Keyword(s):  
British Columbia ◽  
Rainbow Trout ◽  
Chronic Stress ◽  
Stress Responses ◽  
Plasma Cortisol ◽  
Acute Stress ◽  
Physiological Stress ◽  
Stream Habitat ◽  
Clear Cut ◽  
Rainbow Trout Oncorhynchus Mykiss

The impacts associated with streamside clear-cut logging (e.g., increased temperatures and sedimentation, loss of habitat complexity) are potentially stressful to stream-dwelling fish. We examined stream habitat and rainbow trout physiological stress responses to clear-cut logging in north-central British Columbia using 15 streams divided into three categories: old growth (reference), recently logged (clear-cut to both banks 1–9 years prior to the study), and second growth (clear-cut 25–28 years prior to the study). We used plasma cortisol and chloride concentrations as indicators of acute stress, and interrenal nuclear diameters, impairment of the plasma cortisol response, and trout condition and length-at-age estimates as indicators of chronic stress. No statistically significant acute or chronic stress responses to streamside logging were found, despite increases in summertime stream temperatures (daily maxima and diurnal fluctuations) and a reduction in the average overall availability of pool habitat. Our observed stress responses were approximately an order of magnitude lower than what has previously been reported in the literature for a variety of different stressors, and trout interrenal nuclear diameters responses to the onset of winter were approximately five times greater than those to logging. The overall consistency of our results suggests that the impacts of streamside clear-cut logging are not acutely or chronically stressful to rainbow trout in our study area.

scholarly journals PERCEIVED CONTROL AND CORTISOL STRESS REACTIVITY: VARIATIONS BY AGE, RACE, AND FACETS OF CONTROL

2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. S854-S854
Author(s):  
Jin-Hui Wen ◽  
Nancy L Sin
Keyword(s):  
Racial Differences ◽  
Stress Responses ◽  
Salivary Cortisol ◽  
Perceived Control ◽  
Stress Reactivity ◽  
Physiological Stress ◽  
Cortisol Reactivity ◽  
Personal Mastery ◽  
Age Variations ◽  
Perceived Constraints

Abstract Greater perceived control is associated with better aging-related health outcomes, and these associations have previously been shown to differ based on sociodemographics. Physiological stress responses—including cortisol reactivity to stressors—may underlie the link between perceived control and health. The goal of this study was to evaluate the associations of perceived control and its facets (personal mastery and perceived constraints) with cortisol reactivity to acute laboratory stressors, in addition to the moderating roles of age and race. Participants (N = 737) ages 25-75 completed a perceived control questionnaire and two lab-based stress tasks. Salivary cortisol was collected pre- and post-stressor exposure. The results showed no main effects of perceived control, personal mastery, nor perceived constraints on salivary cortisol reactivity to stressors. However, age and race moderated the association between perceived constraints and post-stressor cortisol level, adjusting for baseline cortisol, sociodemographics, and health covariates. Among white participants, younger adults who reported higher constraints had elevated cortisol responses compared to those who reported lower constraints, whereas constraints were unrelated to cortisol reactivity among midlife and older adults. Among black participants, perceived control and its subscales were unrelated to cortisol, regardless of age. These findings suggest that older age buffers against the association between constraints and stress reactivity, but this buffering effect is only evident for white participants. Future research on the role of perceived control in stress and health should consider the importance of racial differences, facets of control, and age variations.

scholarly journals Non-invasive cortisol measurements as indicators of physiological stress responses in guinea pigs

PeerJ ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 4 ◽  
pp. e1590 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matthias Nemeth ◽  
Elisabeth Pschernig ◽  
Bernard Wallner ◽  
Eva Millesi
Keyword(s):  
Stress Responses ◽  
Environmental Conditions ◽  
Guinea Pigs ◽  
Acute Stress ◽  
Physiological Stress ◽  
Non Invasive ◽  
Biological Relevance ◽  
Saliva Cortisol ◽  
Cortisol Levels

Non-invasive measurements of glucocorticoid (GC) concentrations, including cortisol and corticosterone, serve as reliable indicators of adrenocortical activities and physiological stress loads in a variety of species. As an alternative to invasive analyses based on plasma, GC concentrations in saliva still represent single-point-of-time measurements, suitable for studying short-term or acute stress responses, whereas fecal GC metabolites (FGMs) reflect overall stress loads and stress responses after a species-specific time frame in the long-term. In our study species, the domestic guinea pig, GC measurements are commonly used to indicate stress responses to different environmental conditions, but the biological relevance of non-invasive measurements is widely unknown. We therefore established an experimental protocol based on the animals’ natural stress responses to different environmental conditions and compared GC levels in plasma, saliva, and fecal samples during non-stressful social isolations and stressful two-hour social confrontations with unfamiliar individuals. Plasma and saliva cortisol concentrations were significantly increased directly after the social confrontations, and plasma and saliva cortisol levels were strongly correlated. This demonstrates a high biological relevance of GC measurements in saliva. FGM levels measured 20 h afterwards, representing the reported mean gut passage time based on physiological validations, revealed that the overall stress load was not affected by the confrontations, but also no relations to plasma cortisol levels were detected. We therefore measured FGMs in two-hour intervals for 24 h after another social confrontation and detected significantly increased levels after four to twelve hours, reaching peak concentrations already after six hours. Our findings confirm that non-invasive GC measurements in guinea pigs are highly biologically relevant in indicating physiological stress responses compared to circulating levels in plasma in the short- and long-term. Our approach also underlines the importance of detailed investigations on how to use and interpret non-invasive measurements, including the determination of appropriate time points for sample collections.

Investigating individual stress reactivity: High hair cortisol predicts lower acute stress responses

2020 ◽  
Vol 118 ◽  
pp. 104660
Author(s):  
Magdalena Sandner ◽  
Giannis Lois ◽  
Fabian Streit ◽  
Peter Zeier ◽  
Peter Kirsch ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Stress Responses ◽  
Stress Reactivity ◽  
Acute Stress ◽  
Hair Cortisol

scholarly journals He who dares only wins sometimes: physiological stress and contest behaviour in Xiphophorus helleri

Behaviour ◽  
2012 ◽  
Vol 149 (9) ◽  
pp. 977-1002 ◽  
Author(s):  
K. Boulton ◽  
B. Sinderman ◽  
M.R. Pearce ◽  
R.L. Earley ◽  
A.J. Wilson
Keyword(s):  
Stress Responses ◽  
Acute Stress ◽  
Physiological Stress ◽  
Coping Styles ◽  
Physiological State ◽  
Stress Coping ◽  
Contest Outcome ◽  
Cortisol Levels ◽  
The Difference ◽  
Contest Behaviour

While many factors influence contest outcome and social dominance in animals, there is increasing interest in behavioural-physiological stress-coping styles. Causality, however, is often ambiguous; is physiological state determined by contest outcome or vice versa? Furthermore, experimental protocols may themselves induce stress responses that impact individual behaviour and, thus, potentially contest outcome. Here we test whether latency to recover from acute stress, measured both physiologically and behaviourally, predicts who initiates and who wins dyadic contests between pairs of male green swordtails (Xiphophorous helleri). In line with our predictions, animals that recovered faster (behaviourally) from disturbance created by the experimental protocol prior to meeting an opponent were more likely to initiate contests; however, they were not more likely to win and, contrary to expectations, had higher pre-contest cortisol levels than their opponents. They also showed greater physiological stress responses to the experiment as determined from the difference between pre- and post-contest cortisol levels. Moreover, stress response was independent of whether a contest escalated. In contradiction to evidence found in other taxa and fish systems, the suite of traits that we measured were not correlated in a manner that allowed classification of the animals into the usual reactive and proactive stress-coping styles. Our results suggest that coping style may play a key role in determining which individual initiates a contest, but that other factors govern contest outcome.

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