scholarly journals Real-world stress resilience is associated with the responsivity of the locus coeruleus

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Marcus Grueschow ◽  
Nico Stenz ◽  
Hanna Thörn ◽  
Ulrike Ehlert ◽  
Jan Breckwoldt ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Locus Coeruleus ◽  
Life Stress ◽  
Real Life ◽  
Stressful Events ◽  
Anxiety And Depression ◽  
Functional Coupling ◽  
Conflict Task ◽  
Stress Resilience ◽  
Potential Marker ◽  
Related Symptom

AbstractIndividuals may show different responses to stressful events. Here, we investigate the neurobiological basis of stress resilience, by showing that neural responsitivity of the noradrenergic locus coeruleus (LC-NE) and associated pupil responses are related to the subsequent change in measures of anxiety and depression in response to prolonged real-life stress. We acquired fMRI and pupillometry data during an emotional-conflict task in medical residents before they underwent stressful emergency-room internships known to be a risk factor for anxiety and depression. The LC-NE conflict response and its functional coupling with the amygdala was associated with stress-related symptom changes in response to the internship. A similar relationship was found for pupil-dilation, a potential marker of LC-NE firing. Our results provide insights into the noradrenergic basis of conflict generation, adaptation and stress resilience.

scholarly journals Increases in Stressors Prior to-Versus During the COVID-19 Pandemic in the United States Are Associated With Depression Among Middle-Aged Mothers

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brittany K. Taylor ◽  
Michaela R. Frenzel ◽  
Hallie J. Johnson ◽  
Madelyn P. Willett ◽  
Stuart F. White ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Depressive Symptoms ◽  
Life Stress ◽  
Structural Equation ◽  
Rating Scale ◽  
Psychological Symptoms ◽  
The United States ◽  
Change Score ◽  
Stressful Events ◽  
Equation Modeling ◽  
Anxiety And Depression

Working parents in are struggling to balance the demands of their occupation with those of childcare and homeschooling during the COVID-19 pandemic. Moreover, studies show that women are shouldering more of the burden and reporting greater levels of psychological distress, anxiety, and depression relative to men. However, research has yet to show that increases in psychological symptoms are linked to changes in stress during the pandemic. Herein, we conduct a small-N study to explore the associations between stress and psychological symptoms during the pandemic among mothers using structural equation modeling, namely latent change score models. Thirty-three mothers completed questionnaires reporting current anxious and depressive symptoms (Beck Anxiety and Depression Index, respectively), as well as stressful life experiences prior to-versus during the pandemic (Social Readjustment Rating Scale). Women endorsed significantly more stressful events during the pandemic, relative to the pre-pandemic period. Additionally, 58% of mothers scored as moderate-to-high risk for developing a stress-related physical illness in the near future because of their pandemic-level stress. Depressive symptoms were associated with the degree of change in life stress, whereas anxiety symptoms were more related to pre-pandemic levels of stress. The present study preliminarily sheds light on the nuanced antecedents to mothers’ experiences of anxious and depressive symptoms during the COVID-19 pandemic. Although further work is needed in larger, more diverse samples of mothers, this study highlights the potential need for appropriate policies, and prevention and intervention programs to ameliorate the effects of pandemics on mothers’ mental health.

Regression to mean: Modification of real-life stress data

2009 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dmitry Alekseevich Dimitriev ◽  
E. V. Saperova ◽  
Y. D. Karpenko
Keyword(s):  
Life Stress ◽  
Real Life

Socio-Demographic, Clinical Profile, Life Stress Events and Psychiatric Comorbidities in Patients with First Attempt Suicide

2020 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Karthik Selvaraj ◽  
◽  
Pranjali Bansal ◽  
Akshay Singh ◽  
Sushma Viswanathan ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Life Stress ◽  
Rating Scale ◽  
Suicide Attempts ◽  
Stressful Events ◽  
Clinical Profile ◽  
Family Type ◽  
P Value ◽  
Suicide Intent ◽  
Self Harm ◽  
Severity Of Depression

Background: Contemporary literature focuses on various socio-demographic, clinical profile and psychiatric comorbitidies in patients with first attempt suicide. Aim: 1. To study the socio-demographic factors and the clinical profile of subjects with the first attempt suicide. 2. To assess the severity of depression and severity of stress due to various stressful events in patients with first attempt suicide. 3. To assess the severity of the suicide intent in patients with first attempt suicide. 4. To study the association between socio demographic profile of the patients with severity of depression, severity of suicide intent and severity of stress. Materials and Methods: Hundred fifteen patients were assessed using Hamilton rating scale for depression, becks suicide intent scale, Holmes-Rahe life stress inventory, MINI international neuropsychiatric interview. The data was analysed using the statistical software SPSS version 20. Results: The sample of 115 patients showed mean age to be 29 years, majority of them being males (58%). With most common mode of attempting suicide to be drug overdose and most of the patients had adjustment issues due to various domestic household issues and financial stressors. The severity of depression was mild and suicide intent were low (67%). In our study chi square finding association between various socio demographic variables and severity of depression found to be highly significant. It was strongest among gender at p value 0.009, occupation in which depression was found mostly among employed patients and housewives at p value 0.001. Results also found depression more common among participants with urban background at p value 0.03 and family type being nuclear at p value 0.05. Conclusion: Promoting healthy coping mechanism and reduction in stress is required to reduce self-harm. As is evident from the study, modifying the interpersonal relationship problems in the family might help in preventing many of suicide attempts/intentional self-harm and therefore important to address their various life events that might be stressful for them forcing them to take this step. In a country like India, where formal mental health resources are limited and are attached to a stigma, it is important to provide adequate information also among people hailing from lower economic status.

scholarly journals Experimentally-induced and real-world acute anxiety have no effect on goal-directed behaviour

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
CM Gillan ◽  
MM Vaghi ◽  
FH Hezemans ◽  
Grothe S van Ghesel ◽  
J Dafflon ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Individual Differences ◽  
Anxiety Disorders ◽  
Healthy Volunteers ◽  
Real World ◽  
Real Life ◽  
Stressful Events ◽  
Panic Attacks ◽  
Healthy Individuals ◽  
Correlational Design ◽  
Acute Anxiety

AbstractCompulsivity is associated with failures in goal-directed control, an important cognitive faculty that protects against developing habits. But might this effect be explained by co-occurring anxiety? Previous studies have found goal-directed deficits in other anxiety disorders, and to some extent when healthy individuals are stressed, suggesting this is plausible. We carried out a causal test of this hypothesis in two experiments (between-subject N=88; within-subject N=50) that used the inhalation of hypercapnic gas (7.5% CO2) to induce an acute state of anxiety in healthy volunteers. In both experiments, we successfully induced anxiety, assessed physiologically and psychologically, but this did not affect goal-directed performance. In a third experiment (N=1413), we used a correlational design to test if real-life anxiety-provoking events (panic attacks, stressful events) impair goal-directed control. While small effects were observed, none survived controlling for individual differences in compulsivity. These data suggest that anxiety has no meaningful impact on goal-directed control.

scholarly journals Home assessment of visual working memory in pre-schoolers reveals associations between behaviour, brain activation and environmental measures.

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sobanawartiny Wijeakumar ◽  
Eva Rafetseder ◽  
Yee Lee Shing ◽  
Courtney McKay
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Individual Differences ◽  
Visual Working Memory ◽  
School Children ◽  
Life Stress ◽  
Fluid Intelligence ◽  
Colour Change ◽  
Stressful Events ◽  
The Difference ◽  
Parietal Cortices

Visual working memory (VWM) is reliably predictive of fluid intelligence and academic achievements. The objective of the current study was to investigate the nature of individual differences in pre-schoolers by examining the relationship between behaviour-brain function underlying VWM processing and parent-reported measures. We used a portable 8 x 8 channel functional near-infrared spectroscopy system to record from the frontal and parietal cortices of 4.5-year-old pre-school children (N=74) as they completed a colour change detection VWM task in their homes. Parents were asked to fill in questionnaires on temperament, academic aspirations, home environment, and life stress. Children were median-split into a low-performing (LP) and a high-performing (HP) group based on the number of items they could successfully remember during the task. LPs increasingly activated the bilateral frontal and parietal cortices with increasing load, whereas HPs showed no difference in activation across the loads. Our findings suggested that LPs recruited more neural resources when their VWM capacity was challenged. We employed mediation analyses to examine the association between the difference in activation between the highest and lowest loads, and variables from the questionnaires. The difference in activation in the right parietal cortex partially mediated the association between parent-reported stressful life events and VWM performance. Specifically, a higher number of stressful events was associated with lower VWM performance. Critically, our findings show that the association between VWM capacity, right parietal activation, and indicators of life stress is important to understand the nature of individual differences in VWM in pre-school children.

Memory processes and the course of anxiety and depression in cancer patients

1998 ◽  
Vol 28 (1) ◽  
pp. 219-224 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. R. BREWIN ◽  
M. WATSON ◽  
S. McCARTHY ◽  
P. HYMAN ◽  
D. DAYSON
Keyword(s):  
Cancer Patients ◽  
Stressful Life Events ◽  
Psychiatric Symptoms ◽  
Stressful Events ◽  
Anxiety And Depression ◽  
Intrusive Memories ◽  
Memory Functioning ◽  
Depressed Group ◽  
Initial Severity

Background. Intrusive memories of stressful events, many involving illness and death, are found in a minority of depressed cancer patients, and may predict the course of anxiety and depression.Method. Matched samples of mild to moderately depressed and non-depressed cancer patients were followed up after 6 months. Anxiety and depression at follow-up were related to measures of intrusive memories of stressful life events and autobiographical memory functioning that had been assessed at baseline.Results. Levels of anxiety and depression remained fairly constant over time in the two groups, and the depressed group continued to experience high levels of intrusive memories. The presence of intrusive memories at baseline, and the extent to which these memories were consciously avoided, predicted greater anxiety at follow-up, even after controlling for initial severity of physical and psychiatric symptoms. None of the measures of memory functioning predicted levels of depression at follow-up.Conclusions. Intrusive memories appear to be a marker of more prolonged psychopathology in cancer patients and may respond to direct therapeutic intervention.

scholarly journals Do “Dark” Personality Features Buffer Against Adversity? The Associations Between Cumulative Life Stress, the Dark Triad, and Mental Distress

SAGE Open ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 215824401882238 ◽  
Author(s):  
Minna Lyons ◽  
Kate Evans ◽  
Samuli Helle
Keyword(s):  
Life Events ◽  
Life Stress ◽  
Mental Distress ◽  
Stressful Life Events ◽  
Dark Triad ◽  
Stressful Events ◽  
Stressful Life ◽  
Online Study ◽  
The Face ◽  
The Impact

Stressful life events have a major impact on adverse mental health outcomes, although not all individuals are equally affected. According to the buffering hypothesis, there may be personality traits that protect individuals against mental distress in the face of adversity, playing thus a moderating role between life stressors and mental distress. In the present online study ( N = 574), Dark Triad of personality (i.e., Machiavellianism, narcissism, and psychopathy) were investigated as moderators between cumulative stressful life events and mental distress (i.e., psychosis, anxiety, and depression). Those who experienced more stressful events during lifetime, and scored higher in Machiavellianism, had higher scores on a psychosis instrument. Narcissism buffered the impact of stressful events on psychosis and depression. The results are discussed in terms of unique profiles associated with each of the traits.

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