Gender Differences in Stress Responses during a Virtual Reality Trier Social Stress Test

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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Sex Differences in Stress Reactivity to the Trier Social Stress Test in Virtual Reality

10.21203/rs.3.rs-21036/v1 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Qing Liu ◽

Wenjuan Zhang

Keyword(s):

Heart Rate ◽

Virtual Reality ◽

Sex Differences ◽

Social Stress ◽

Stress Reactivity ◽

Electrodermal Activity ◽

Stress Test ◽

Young Male ◽

Trier Social Stress Test ◽

Stress Group

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.

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Enduring effect of childhood maltreatment on cortisol and heart rate responses to stress: The moderating role of severity of experiences

Development and Psychopathology ◽

10.1017/s0954579418000123 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 31 (02) ◽

pp. 497-508 ◽

Cited By ~ 9

Author(s):

Isabelle Ouellet-Morin ◽

Marie-Pier Robitaille ◽

Stéphanie Langevin ◽

Christina Cantave ◽

Mara Brendgen ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Heart Rate ◽

Stress Responses ◽

Childhood Maltreatment ◽

Social Stress ◽

Mental Health Problems ◽

Stress Test ◽

Sociodemographic Factors ◽

Trier Social Stress Test ◽

Related Factors ◽

Cortisol Responses

AbstractThere is a relative consensus about the detrimental impact of childhood maltreatment on later mental health problems and behavioral difficulties. Prior research suggests that neurophysiological stress mechanisms may partly mediate this association. However, inconsistent findings regarding hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis and sympathetic responses to stress complicate this investigation. Furthermore, the concordance in these two stress systems is not well understood. We tested whether the severity of maltreatment affected the association between maltreatment and cortisol and heart rate (HR) stress responses and the symmetry of these responses. Participants were 155 males (56 maltreated and 99 controls) aged 18 to 35 years. Cortisol and HR were measured in response to the Trier Social Stress Test. Childhood maltreatment, sociodemographic factors, and health-related factors were measured using self-reported questionnaires. Maltreated participants had higher cortisol responses to stress in comparison to controls. However, a shift from moderate to lower to higher cortisol responses was noted as the severity of the experiences increased. Participants exposed to more experiences of maltreatment also showed a greater symmetry between cortisol and HR stress responses. Our findings provide further support for persistent dysregulation of the HPA axis following childhood maltreatment, of which the expression and symmetry with the sympathetic system may change according to the severity of experiences.

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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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Physiological Resonance in Empathic Stress: Insights from Nonlinear Dynamics of Heart Rate Variability

International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health ◽

10.3390/ijerph18042081 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 18 (4) ◽

pp. 2081 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Estelle Blons ◽

Laurent M. Arsac ◽

Eric Grivel ◽

Veronique Lespinet-Najib ◽

Veronique Deschodt-Arsac

Keyword(s):

Nonlinear Dynamics ◽

Heart Rate ◽

Heart Rate Variability ◽

Stress Responses ◽

Social Stress ◽

Stress Test ◽

Resonance State ◽

Trier Social Stress Test ◽

Resonance Phenomenon ◽

Multiscale Entropy

Because most humans live and work in populated environments, researchers recently took into account that people may not only experience first-hand stress, but also second-hand stress related to the ability to empathically share another person’s stress response. Recently, researchers have begun to more closely examine the existence of such empathic stress and highlighted the human propensity to physiologically resonate with the stress responses of others. As in case of first-hand stress, empathic stress could be deleterious for health if people experience exacerbated activation of hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal and autonomic nervous systems. Thus, exploring empathic stress in an observer watching someone else experiencing stress is critical to gain a better understanding of physiological resonance and conduct strategies for health prevention. In the current study, we investigated the influence of empathic stress responses on heart rate variability (HRV) with a specific focus on nonlinear dynamics. Classic and nonlinear markers of HRV time series were computed in both targets and observers during a modified Trier social stress test (TSST). We capitalized on multiscale entropy, a reliable marker of complexity for depicting neurovisceral interactions (brain-to-heart and heart-to-brain) and their role in physiological resonance. State anxiety and affect were evaluated as well. While classic markers of HRV were not impacted by empathic stress, we showed that the complexity marker reflected the existence of empathic stress in observers. More specifically, a linear model highlighted a physiological resonance phenomenon. We conclude on the relevance of entropy in HRV dynamics, as a marker of complexity in neurovisceral interactions reflecting physiological resonance in empathic stress.

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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.

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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.

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