scholarly journals Multi-modal responses to the Virtual Reality Trier Social Stress Test: A comparison with standard interpersonal and control conditions

2021 ◽  
Vol 161 ◽  
pp. 27-34
Author(s):  
M.A. Fallon ◽  
M.M.E. Riem ◽  
L.E. Kunst ◽  
W.J. Kop ◽  
N. Kupper
2011 ◽  
Vol 20 (4) ◽  
pp. 325-336 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mattias Wallergård ◽  
Peter Jönsson ◽  
Gerd Johansson ◽  
Björn Karlson

One of the most common methods of inducing stress in the laboratory in order to examine the stress response in healthy and clinical populations is the Trier Social Stress Test (TSST). Briefly, the participant is asked to deliver a speech and to perform an arithmetic task in front of an evaluating committee. The committee, consisting of three trained actors, does not respond emotionally during the test, which makes the situation very stressful for the participant. One disadvantage of the TSST is that it can be difficult to hold the experimental conditions constant. In particular, it may be difficult for actors to hold their acting constant across all sessions. Furthermore, there are several practical problems and costs associated with hiring professional actors. A computerized version of the TSST using virtual humans could be a way to avoid these problems provided that it is able to induce a stress response similar to the one of the original TSST. The purpose of the present pilot study was therefore to investigate the stress response to a virtual reality (VR) version of the TSST visualized using an immersive VR system (VR-TSST). Seven healthy males with an average age of 24 years (range: 23–26 years) performed the VR-TSST. This included delivering a speech and performing an arithmetic task in front of an evaluating committee consisting of three virtual humans. The VR equipment was a CAVE equipped with stereoscopy and head tracking. ECG and respiration were recorded as well as the participant's behavior and comments. Afterward, a semi-structured interview was carried out. In general, the subjective and physiological data from the experiment indicated that the VR version of the TSST induced a stress response in the seven participants. In particular, the peak increase in heart rate was close to rates observed in studies using the traditional TSST with real actors. These results suggest that virtual humans visualized with an immersive VR system can be used to induce stress under laboratory conditions.


2016 ◽  
Vol 110 ◽  
pp. 47-55 ◽  
Author(s):  
Youssef Shiban ◽  
Julia Diemer ◽  
Simone Brandl ◽  
Rebecca Zack ◽  
Andreas Mühlberger ◽  
...  

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Qing Liu ◽  
Wenjuan Zhang

Abstract Background: The aim of the present study is to investigate the sex differences in stress reactivity to the Trier Social Stress Test (TSST) in a virtual reality(TSST-VR). Methods: Healthy young male (n = 30) and female (n = 30) undergraduates were randomly assigned to a psychosocial stress protocol (TSST) condition or to a non-stressful control condition (Placebo-TSST) under VR. Electrodermal activity (EDA), heart rate (HR) and heart rate variability (HRV) were measured throughout the study. The subjective scales of stress and emotion were also conducted. Results: The results showed that after VR, the stress group reported higher stress perceptions than the non-stress group. Compared with females, the males stronger EDA and higher HRV before the VR, and lower HR during VR as well as higher HRV after VR. The correlation between subjective and objective reactivity demonstrated that HRV during VR was negatively correlated to depression and negative affect. The HRV after VR was negatively correlated to the positive coping but was positively correlated to the depression. Conclusions: These findings suggest that the TSST-VR could be used as an available tool for testing gender differences to social stress induction in experimental settings. Compared with females, males were more sensitive to stress.


2015 ◽  
Vol 48 (1) ◽  
pp. 223-232 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eva Montero-López ◽  
Ana Santos-Ruiz ◽  
M. Carmen García-Ríos ◽  
Raúl Rodríguez-Blázquez ◽  
Miguel Pérez-García ◽  
...  

2010 ◽  
Vol 35 (9) ◽  
pp. 1397-1403 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter Jönsson ◽  
Mattias Wallergård ◽  
Kai Österberg ◽  
Åse Marie Hansen ◽  
Gerd Johansson ◽  
...  

2019 ◽  
Vol 101 ◽  
pp. 186-192 ◽  
Author(s):  
Patrick Zimmer ◽  
Benjamin Buttlar ◽  
Georg Halbeisen ◽  
Eva Walther ◽  
Gregor Domes

2021 ◽  
pp. 113618
Author(s):  
Oswald D. Kothgassner ◽  
Andreas Goreis ◽  
Lisa M. Glenk ◽  
Johanna Xenia Kafka ◽  
Bettina Pfeffer ◽  
...  

2019 ◽  
Vol 19 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Julia Santl ◽  
Youssef Shiban ◽  
Andreas Plab ◽  
Stefan Wüst ◽  
Brigitte M. Kudielka ◽  
...  

The Trier Social Stress Test (TSST) is commonly used to induce stress in laboratories by instructing participants to deliver a speech and to solve arithmetic tasks in front of a committee. Its implementation in virtual reality (VR) enables an investigation of stress responses under highly standardized controllable conditions. The aim of this study was to compare stress responses among men and women in a VR version of the TSST (VR-TSST). To this end, 16 women taking oral contraceptives and 16 men underwent the VR-TSST in a modified version including a competitor. Stress ratings, heart rate, electrodermal reactivity, and salivary cortisol responses were analyzed. The VR-TSST induced endocrine, peripher-physiological and self-reported stress responses, indicated by a significant increase in heart rate, electrodermal activity and stress ratings as well as a small but significant cortisol response. Significant gender differences were found only for stress ratings. In conclusion, these findings confirm earlier results that VR is suitable to induce social stress both in males and females.


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