Relationship between cortisol secretion and subjective experience of the Trier Social Stress Test

In the current study we tested whether ADRA2B moderates stress regulation of Holocaust survivors as indexed by their diurnal cortisol secretion and cortisol reactivity to a stressor. Salivary cortisol levels of 54 female Holocaust survivors and participants in the comparison group were assessed during a routine day and in response to a stress-evoking procedure (an adapted version of the Trier Social Stress Test [TSST]). ADRA2B did not moderate differences between Holocaust survivors and participants in the comparison group in terms of cortisol reactivity to the TSST. Holocaust survivors with the wildtype ADRA2B, however, displayed higher diurnal cortisol levels than did participants in the comparison group with the same genotype, whereas no difference was found between these groups in carriers of the deletion variant, previously associated with more reexperiencing of traumatic events. Carriers of the deletion variant might have been driven in the long run to resolve their vividly remembered experiences, and therefore currently show less stress dysregulation as evident from their cortisol levels.

Download Full-text

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.

Download Full-text

Messung der Stimmfrequenz im Paargespräch – Chancen für Diagnostik und Intervention in der Paartherapie

Zeitschrift für Psychiatrie Psychologie und Psychotherapie ◽

10.1024/1661-4747/a000420 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 68 (4) ◽

pp. 217-227 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Lisanne J. Bulling ◽

Isabella C. Bertschi ◽

Céline C. Stadelmann ◽

Tina Niederer ◽

Guy Bodenmann

Keyword(s):

Social Stress ◽

Stress Test ◽

Trier Social Stress Test

Zusammenfassung. Die vorliegende Arbeit stellt die bisherigen empirischen Befunde zur Sprachgrundfrequenz (f0) in Paargesprächen vor und untersucht, wie sich die f0 nach einer experimentellen Stressinduktion im anschließenden spontanen Gespräch zwischen den Partner_innen verändert, wie die f0 mit der verbalen Stressäußerung zusammenhängt und wie sie zwischen den beiden Partner_innen kovariiert. Von 128 heterosexuellen Paaren nahm jeweils eine Person pro Paar am Trier Social Stress Test (TSST) teil. Die dem TSST vorangehende und anschließende naturalistische Interaktion zwischen den Partner_innen wurde gefilmt und nach Gesprächsthema und Art der Stressäußerung kodiert. Wie vorherige Studien zur f0 im Paargespräch zeigte auch die vorliegende Studie, dass die f0 wichtige Informationen über die Partnerschaft enthält. Während eine Erhöhung der f0 in Gesprächen über einen paarinternen Stressor (d.h. bei Konfliktgesprächen) mit negativen Kommunikationsmustern einherging, zeigte die vorliegende Studie, dass die f0 bei Gesprächen über einen paarexternen Stressor (d.h. beim TSST) mit emotionsorientierten Stressäußerungen einherging, also einer für den Stressbewältigungsprozess förderlichen Art der Kommunikation. Die Oszillatorenmodelle zeigen darüber hinaus, dass eine Kopplung der f0 zwischen den Partner_innen besteht, was darauf hindeutet, dass die nicht gestressten Partner_innen auf die paraverbalen Stressäußerungen der gestressten Partner_innen mit ihren eigenen paraverbalen Stressäußerungen reagieren.

Download Full-text

Faculty Opinions recommendation of An introductory guide to conducting the Trier Social Stress Test.

Faculty Opinions – Post-Publication Peer Review of the Biomedical Literature ◽

10.3410/f.736675233.793569503 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Oliver Wolf

Keyword(s):

Social Stress ◽

Stress Test ◽

Trier Social Stress Test

Download Full-text

Immunoassay or LC-MS/MS for the measurement of salivary cortisol in children?

Clinical Chemistry and Laboratory Medicine (CCLM) ◽

10.1515/cclm-2015-0412 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 54 (5) ◽

Cited By ~ 13

Author(s):

Yoon Ju Bae ◽

Alexander Gaudl ◽

Sonia Jaeger ◽

Stephanie Stadelmann ◽

Andreas Hiemisch ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Salivary Cortisol ◽

Social Stress ◽

Statistical Power ◽

Stress Test ◽

Externalizing Disorders ◽

Cross Reactivity ◽

Trier Social Stress Test ◽

Healthy Children ◽

Kinetic Assay ◽

The Difference

AbstractBackground:Dysregulation of the adrenal cortex has been assessed with measurement of salivary cortisol. So far salivary cortisol is routinely measured with immunoassay (IA). However, liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (MS) is known to offer better specificity. We compared the concentrations of salivary cortisol measured by MS and IA at basal and stress induced conditions and evaluated reasons for the difference in method-dependent cortisol results.Methods:Saliva samples (n=2703) were collected from 169 children (age range: 8–14 years; 81 healthy children; 55 with internalizing and 33 with externalizing disorders) under circadian conditions and during the Trier Social Stress Test for Children (TSST-C). Biochemical analyses were performed with MS for cortisol and cortisone, IA (IBL, RE62011) for cortisol, and enzyme kinetic assay for α-amylase.Results:MS and IA showed mostly comparable results for circadian activity and TSST-C response with similar statistical power. However, IA measured cortisol concentrations about 2.39-fold higher than MS. We found that this difference in measured values between MS and IA was mainly due to different standardization of IA compared to MS. In addition, at cortisol IA concentration below 5 nmol/L, cross-reactivity with cortisone was found to contribute to the lower concordance between MS and IA.Conclusions:Immunoassay and LC-MS/MS were largely comparable in the interpretation of salivary cortisol dynamics in stress research. But the IA method revealed a restricted accuracy in the measuring range below 5 nmol/L.

Download Full-text

Childhood Adversities and Salivary Cortisol Responses to the Trier Social Stress Test: A Systematic Review of Studies Using the Children Trauma Questionnaire (CTQ)

International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health ◽

10.3390/ijerph18010029 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 18 (1) ◽

pp. 29

Author(s):

Chuk Ling Julian Lai ◽

Daryl Yu Heng Lee ◽

Monique On Yee Leung

Keyword(s):

Salivary Cortisol ◽

Social Stress ◽

Stress Test ◽

Trier Social Stress Test ◽

Future Research ◽

Cortisol Response ◽

Childhood Adversities ◽

Social Stressors ◽

Childhood Trauma Questionnaire ◽

Cortisol Responses

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.

Download Full-text

A Virtual Reality Version of the Trier Social Stress Test: A Pilot Study

Presence Teleoperators & Virtual Environments ◽

10.1162/pres_a_00052 ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 20 (4) ◽

pp. 325-336 ◽

Cited By ~ 20

Author(s):

Mattias Wallergård ◽

Peter Jönsson ◽

Gerd Johansson ◽

Björn Karlson

Keyword(s):

Virtual Reality ◽

Stress Response ◽

Pilot Study ◽

Social Stress ◽

Stress Test ◽

Structured Interview ◽

Trier Social Stress Test ◽

Physiological Data ◽

Virtual Humans ◽

Arithmetic Task

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.

Download Full-text