Sex and stress: Men and women show different cortisol responses to psychological stress induced by the Trier social stress test and the Iowa singing social stress test

Alteration in cortisol response to acute social stressors has been hypothesized to mediate childhood adversities (CA) and increased morbidity in adulthood. However, the evidence supporting an association between CA and cortisol response to social stressors is inconclusive. The present review addressed this issue by reviewing the literature on CA and cortisol response to acute social stressors, with a focus on studies with adolescents or adults, using the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (CTQ) to assess CA, and examining salivary cortisol response to the Trier Social Stress Test (TSST). Systematic searches of relevant articles in PsycINFO, PubMed, Web of Science and ScienceDirect in February and March 2020 identified 12 articles including 1196 participants with mean ages ranging from 15.3 to 52.3 yrs. across studies. CTQ scores were significantly associated with cortisol response in 2 studies. In addition, the physical abuse and emotional neglect subscales were associated with cortisol response respectively in 2 separate studies. The lack of association between CA and cortisol response calls for more longitudinal studies, and the use of formal records of maltreatment or informant reports in future research to complement information collected by retrospective measures. In addition, increased attention to biological mechanisms other than that associated with the regulation of cortisol in explaining the connection between CA and psychiatry morbidity is warranted.

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Stress system dysfunction revealed by integrating reactivity of stress pathways to psychological stress in lean and overweight/obese men

AJP Regulatory Integrative and Comparative Physiology ◽

10.1152/ajpregu.00276.2021 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Sisitha Udara Jayasinghe ◽

Sarah Janet Hall ◽

Susan Jane Torres ◽

Anne Isabella Turner

Keyword(s):

Blood Pressure ◽

Systolic Blood Pressure ◽

Diastolic Blood Pressure ◽

Psychological Stress ◽

Hpa Axis ◽

Social Stress ◽

Blood Pressure Response ◽

Stress Test ◽

Trier Social Stress Test ◽

Stress System

While the patterns of response within the sympatho-adrenal medullary (SAM) system and hypothalamo-pituitary adrenal (HPA) axis are interesting and important in their own accord, the overall response to acute psychological stress involves reactivity of both pathways We tested the hypothesis that consideration of the integrated response of these pathways may reveal dysregulation of the stress systems that is not evident when considering either system alone. Age matched lean and overweight/obese men were subjected to a Trier Social Stress Test and reactivity of the SAM system (salivary alpha amylase, systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure and heart rate) and the HPA axis (salivary cortisol) were measured. Relative reactivity of SAM system and HPA axis was calculated as the ratio between the measures from each pathway. While analysis of reactivity of individual stress pathways showed no evidence of dysfunction in overweight/obese compared with lean men, analysis of HPA/SAM reactivity revealed significantly lower cortisol over systolic blood pressure (CoSBP) and cortisol over diastolic blood pressure (CoDBP) reactivity in overweight/obese compared with lean men. Other measures of HPA/SAM reactivity and all measures of SAM/HPA reactivity were unaltered in overweight/obese compared with lean men. These findings suggest that the cortisol response per unit of blood pressure response is blunted in men with elevated adiposity. Further, these findings support a notion of a coordinated overall approach to activation of the stress pathways with the degree of activation in one pathway being related to the degree of activation of the other.

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Validation of an Electrochemical Sensor to Detect Cortisol Responses to the Trier Social Stress Test

Neurobiology of Stress ◽

10.1016/j.ynstr.2020.100263 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 13 ◽

pp. 100263

Author(s):

Guido G. Urizar ◽

Hugo Sanchez Hernandez ◽

Jessica Rayo ◽

Shekhar Bhansali

Keyword(s):

Electrochemical Sensor ◽

Social Stress ◽

Stress Test ◽

Trier Social Stress Test ◽

Cortisol Responses

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Stress Responsiveness in Adult Life: Influence of Mother’s Diet in Late Pregnancy

The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism ◽

10.1210/jc.2007-0071 ◽

2007 ◽

Vol 92 (6) ◽

pp. 2208-2210 ◽

Cited By ~ 49

Author(s):

Rebecca M. Reynolds ◽

Keith M. Godfrey ◽

Mary Barker ◽

Clive Osmond ◽

David I. W. Phillips

Keyword(s):

Psychological Stress ◽

Stress Test ◽

Adult Life ◽

Late Pregnancy ◽

High Protein ◽

Trier Social Stress Test ◽

Cortisol Secretion ◽

Men And Women ◽

Low Carbohydrate Diet ◽

Stress Responsiveness

Abstract Context: Men and women whose mothers ate an unbalanced high-protein, low-carbohydrate diet in late pregnancy have raised blood pressure. We recently showed that they also have raised fasting plasma cortisol concentrations. Because raised fasting cortisol concentrations probably reflect a greater response to the stress of fasting and venesection, we suspected that this diet may have led to increased stress responsiveness in the adult offspring. Objective: The aim was to determine whether an unbalanced high-protein diet during pregnancy is associated with increased cortisol secretion in response to psychological stress in the offspring. Design and Participants: Salivary cortisol concentrations were measured during a modified Trier Social Stress Test in 70 men and women aged 36.3 yr whose mothers had taken part in a dietary intervention in which they were advised to eat 1 pound (0.45 kg) of red meat daily during pregnancy and to avoid carbohydrate-rich foods. Results: The offspring of women who reported greater consumption of meat and fish in the second half of pregnancy had higher cortisol concentrations during the Trier Test. Compared with the offspring of mothers who had reported eating no more than 13 meat/fish portions per week, the average cortisol concentrations were raised by 22% (95% confidence interval, 13 to 71%) and 46% (5 to 103%) in the offspring of those eating 14–16 and at least 17 portions per week, respectively. Conclusions: These findings provide the first human evidence that an unbalanced high protein maternal diet during late pregnancy leads to increased cortisol secretion in response to psychological stress in the offspring.

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Copeptin concentrations during psychological stress: the PsyCo study

Acta Endocrinologica ◽

10.1530/eje-14-0405 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 171 (6) ◽

pp. 737-742 ◽

Cited By ~ 26

Author(s):

Judith Siegenthaler ◽

Carla Walti ◽

Sandrine Andrea Urwyler ◽

Philipp Schuetz ◽

Mirjam Christ-Crain

Keyword(s):

Healthy Volunteers ◽

Psychological Stress ◽

Social Stress ◽

Stress Component ◽

Stress Test ◽

Test Period ◽

Trier Social Stress Test ◽

Stress Effects ◽

Lower Baseline ◽

Post Test

ObjectiveThe prognostic/diagnostic biomarker copeptin, an arginine vasopressin surrogate, reflects physical stress. Whether copeptin concentration increases upon psychological stress is unknown. We investigated psychological stress effects on copeptin secretion in healthy volunteers and patients with central diabetes insipidus (DI).DesignA prospective observational study was conducted to study the relation between copeptin concentration and psychological stress.MethodsA total of 20 healthy adults (ten female) and eight patients with central DI (four female) underwent the Trier Social Stress Test including, in order, 30-min waiting period, 10-min anticipation period, 10-min test period and 40-min recovery. Serum copeptin and cortisol concentrations and self-rated stress component feelings were determined in the pre-/post-anticipation period, post-test period and twice post-recovery.ResultsIn healthy volunteers, the median (25th–75th percentile) copeptin concentration peaked immediately during the post-test period at 5.1 (3.2–7.0) pmol/l, vs 3.7 (2.6–5.4) pmol/l at baseline. Over the measurement course, copeptin concentration significantly elevated (coefficient; 95% CI) (0.14; 0.06–0.23, P=0.002). The important predictors of increase in copeptin concentration were feelings of tension (0.06; 0.04–0.08, P<0.001) and avoidance (0.07; 0.04–0.10; P<0.001). Copeptin and cortisol levels were associated (0.43; 0.13–0.72, P<0.005). Patients with DI had lower baseline concentrations (1.55 (1.2–3.1) pmol/l) when compared with healthy volunteers, P=0.006. Patients with DI showed no increase upon psychological stress (peak 2.15 pmol/l (1.5–2.28), P=0.79). By contrast, cortisol values were similar in patients and volunteers.ConclusionsIn healthy volunteers, copeptin levels significantly increased after psychological stress testing; this response was blunted in patients with DI.

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Physiological responses to psychological stress: importance of adiposity in men aged 50–70 years

Endocrine Connections ◽

10.1530/ec-14-0042 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 3 (3) ◽

pp. 110-119 ◽

Cited By ~ 10

Author(s):

S U Jayasinghe ◽

S J Torres ◽

C A Nowson ◽

A J Tilbrook ◽

A I Turner

Keyword(s):

Psychological Stress ◽

Salivary Cortisol ◽

Social Stress ◽

Stress Test ◽

Area Under The Curve ◽

Peak Height ◽

Trier Social Stress Test ◽

Alpha Amylase ◽

Percentage Body Fat ◽

Salivary Alpha Amylase

We tested the hypothesis that overweight/obese men aged 50–70 years will have a greater salivary cortisol, salivary alpha amylase and heart rate (HR) responses to psychological stress compared with age matched lean men. Lean (BMI=20–25 kg/m2; n=19) and overweight/obese (BMI=27–35 kg/m2; n=17) men (50–70 years) were subjected to a well-characterised psychological stress (Trier Social Stress Test, TSST) at 1500 h. Concentrations of cortisol and alpha amylase were measured in saliva samples collected every 7–15 min from 1400 to 1700 h. HR was recorded using electrocardiogram. Body weight, BMI, percentage body fat, resting systolic and diastolic blood pressure and mean arterial pressure were significantly higher (P<0.05) in overweight/obese men compared with lean men. Both groups responded to the TSST with a substantial elevation in salivary cortisol (372%), salivary alpha amylase (123%) and HR (22%). These responses did not differ significantly between the groups (time×treatment interaction for salivary cortisol, salivary alpha amylase and HR; P=0.187, P=0.288, P=0.550, respectively). There were no significant differences between the groups for pretreatment values, peak height, difference between pretreatment values and peak height (reactivity) or area under the curve for salivary cortisol, salivary alpha amylase or HR (P>0.05 for all). The results showed that, for men with a moderate level of overweight/obesity who were otherwise healthy, the response of salivary cortisol, salivary alpha amylase and HR to acute psychological stress was not impaired.

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Worldview Under Stress: Preliminary Findings on Cardiovascular and Cortisol Stress Responses Predicted by Secularity, Religiosity, Spirituality, and Existential Search

Journal of Religion and Health ◽

10.1007/s10943-020-01008-5 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 59 (6) ◽

pp. 2969-2989 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Tatjana Schnell ◽

Dietmar Fuchs ◽

René Hefti

Keyword(s):

Stress Responses ◽

Social Stress ◽

Physiological Stress ◽

Stress Test ◽

Recovery Period ◽

Trier Social Stress Test ◽

Stress Resilience ◽

Cardiovascular Stress ◽

Cortisol Responses ◽

Positive Correlations

AbstractThis study reports preliminary findings on the hypothesis that worldview can predict cardiovascular and cortisol responses to social stress. Based on theory and previous findings, we assumed that worldview security would provide a basis for stress resilience. Accordingly, religious and atheist individuals were expected to show higher stress resilience than spiritual and agnostic participants. Likewise, dimensional measures of religiosity and atheism were hypothesized to predict decreased, and existential search—indicating worldview insecurity—was hypothesized to predict increased physiological stress responses. Subjects included 50 university students who completed online questionnaires and took part in a standardized social stress test (Trier Social Stress Test). Systolic and diastolic blood pressure (SBP/DBP), heart rate (HR), and salivary cortisol (SC) were assessed at baseline, immediately after stress testing, and during a forty-minute recovery period. Worldview comparisons revealed lower cardiovascular stress responses among religious than among atheist and spiritual participants and particularly high baseline SC among spiritual participants. Across the entire sample, existential search showed substantial positive correlations with SBP, HR, and SC stress parameters. The findings suggest that worldview security might partly explain the health benefits often associated with religion.

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Contemplative Training and Psychological Stress: an Analysis of First-person Accounts

Mindfulness ◽

10.1007/s12671-021-01661-1 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Liudmila Gamaiunova ◽

Pierre-Yves Brandt ◽

Matthias Kliegel

Keyword(s):

Emotion Regulation ◽

Stress Response ◽

Psychological Stress ◽

Social Stress ◽

Subjective Experience ◽

Stress Test ◽

Attention Allocation ◽

Trier Social Stress Test ◽

First Person ◽

The Relationship

Abstract Objectives Several studies have investigated the relationship between contemplative approaches and psychobiological stress response; however, this area of research is still new, the mechanisms of the relationship between the stress response attenuation and contemplative training have not been fully delineated, and little is known about the effects of contemplative practice on the ways psychological stress is experienced. This study aimed to explore the first-person experience of psychological stress in meditation practitioners. Methods We conducted short semi-structured interviews with twenty-five meditation practitioners and twenty meditation-naïve controls immediately after they had undergone a laboratory task (the Trier Social Stress Test). A mixed-method approach was used to analyze the interviews. Thematic analysis was combined with descriptive statistics of the qualitative information that had been converted to quantitative data. Results Experiences instantiating main themes were identified as follows: (1) primary experiences encountered, describing the most salient experiences associated with the task; (2) reasons for stress, delineating the analyses of why the task was stressful; (3) affect, dealing with emotional experiences during the task; (4) emotion regulation; and (5) attention allocation describing regulatory strategies employed by the participants. Responses to subjective stress experience in meditation practitioners included use of humor, presence of positive affect, combinations of different types of emotion regulation strategies, and adaptive attention allocation. Conclusions This study elucidates particularities of meditators’ subjective experience of psychological stress, provides new insights on the mechanisms of meditation effect on the stress response, and proposes new directions for research.

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Changes Occurring on the Activity of Salivary Alpha-Amylase Proteoforms in Two Naturalistic Situations Using a Spectrophotometric Assay

Biology ◽

10.3390/biology10030227 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 10 (3) ◽

pp. 227

Author(s):

María D. Contreras-Aguilar ◽

Sandra V. Mateo ◽

Fernando Tecles ◽

Christophe Hirtz ◽

Damián Escribano ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Psychological Stress ◽

Social Stress ◽

Stress Test ◽

Spectrophotometric Assay ◽

Trier Social Stress Test ◽

Alpha Amylase ◽

Salivary Alpha Amylase ◽

Additional Information ◽

Set Up ◽

Stress Models

This study aimed to evaluate the changes in the activity of total salivary alpha-amylase (TsAA) and both the non-glycosylated and glycosylated salivary alpha-amylase proteoforms (NGsAA and GsAA, respectively) in physical and psychological stress models, estimated using a simple and easily set-up method. The method used was a spectrophotometric assay with 2-chloro-4-nitrophenyl-α-D-maltotriose (CNPG3) as a substrate, incubated with Concanavalin A (ConA) to remove most of the glycosylated protein from the sample. This method allowed the measurement of TsAA and estimation of NGsAA and GsAA activities with imprecision lower than 10%. When this method was applied to two different stress models, differences in the responses of the proteoforms were observed, with the NGsAA activity showing changes of higher magnitude after stress induction than the GsAA activity, and the highest correlation with the State–Trait Anxiety Inventory Scale in the Trier Social Stress Test (TSST). In conclusion, the activity of the two main sAA proteoforms can be easily estimated in saliva, and their measurement can provide additional information on TsAA activity in physical or psychological stress situations.

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