scholarly journals A Synergistic Mindsets Intervention Protects Adolescents from Social Stress

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Yeager ◽  
Christopher Bryan ◽  
James Gross ◽  
Danielle Krettek ◽  
Pedro Santos ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Stress Responses ◽  
Social Stress ◽  
Internalizing Symptoms ◽  
Evaluation Studies ◽  
Stressful Events ◽  
Double Blind ◽  
Total N ◽  
Adolescent Stress ◽  
Reactivity Study ◽  
Positive Engagement

Abstract Social stress poses a major threat to adolescent health via its effects on internalizing symptoms, such as anxiety and depression. Available interventions to help adolescents improve their stress responses, however, have not been effective in rigorous evaluation studies, or they have been difficult to administer widely. Here we show that replicable improvements in adolescent stress responses can be achieved with a short (~30-minute), scalable synergistic mindsets intervention. This intervention, which is a self-administered online training module, targets both growth mindsets (the idea that people’s intelligence can be developed in response to challenge) and stress-can-be-enhancing mindsets (the idea that people’s stress responses can be fuel for optimal performance). Its goal is to promote positive engagement with stressful events (e.g., learning from failure on a quiz or a conflict with a peer) and to encourage adolescents to use their responses to stressful events and even their bodily symptoms (e.g. racing heart, sweaty palms, butterflies in their stomach) to their advantage. In five double-blind, randomized, controlled trials (total N = 4,091 adolescents), the new synergistic mindsets intervention improved stress-related cognitions (Studies 1-2), cardiovascular reactivity (Study 3), daily internalizing symptoms and cortisol levels (Study 4), and generalized anxiety symptoms during the 2020 COVID-19 lockdowns (Study 5). Effects on downstream outcomes (in Studies 3-5) were stronger among individuals who, at baseline, held the two negative mindsets targeted by the intervention, providing evidence for the proposed mechanisms. Confidence in this conclusion comes from a conservative, Bayesian machine-learning method for detecting heterogeneity.

Effects of d-amphetamine upon psychosocial stress responses

2016 ◽  
Vol 30 (7) ◽  
pp. 608-615 ◽  
Author(s):  
Emma Childs ◽  
Anya K Bershad ◽  
Harriet de Wit
Keyword(s):  
Stress Responses ◽  
Self Efficacy ◽  
Psychosocial Stress ◽  
Social Stress ◽  
Stress Test ◽  
Real Life ◽  
Cognitive Appraisals ◽  
Trier Social Stress Test ◽  
Laboratory Animals ◽  
Double Blind

Psychostimulant drugs alter the salience of stimuli in both laboratory animals and humans. In animals, stimulants increase rates of responding to conditioned incentive stimuli, and in humans, amphetamine increases positive ratings of emotional images. However, the effects of stimulants on real-life emotional events have not been studied in humans. In this study, we examined the effect of d-amphetamine on responses to acute psychosocial stress using a public speaking task. Healthy volunteers ( N=56) participated in two experimental sessions, one with a psychosocial stressor (the Trier Social Stress Test) and one with a non-stressful control task. They were randomly assigned to receive d-amphetamine (5 mg n=18, 10 mg n=20) or placebo ( n=18) on both sessions under double blind conditions. Salivary cortisol, subjective mood, and vital signs were measured at regular intervals during the session. Subjects also provided cognitive appraisals of the tasks before and after their performances. Amphetamine produced its expected mood and physiological effects, and the Trier Social Stress Test produced its expected effects on cortisol and mood. Although neither dose of amphetamine altered cardiovascular or hormonal responses to stress, amphetamine (10 mg) increased participants’ pre-task appraisals of how challenging the task would be, and it increased post-task ratings of self-efficacy. Paradoxically, it also increased ratings of how stressful the task was, and prolonged aversive emotional responses. These findings suggest that amphetamine differentially affects stress response components: it may increase participants’ appraisals of self-efficacy without dampening the direct emotional or physiological responses to the stress.

Responses to social evaluative stress in regular cannabis smokers

2021 ◽  
pp. 026988112097233
Author(s):  
Richard J Xia ◽  
Thomas Chao ◽  
Divya Patel ◽  
Gillinder Bedi
Keyword(s):  
Heart Rate ◽  
Stress Responses ◽  
Social Stress ◽  
Physiological Stress ◽  
Negative Mood ◽  
Mood States ◽  
Residual Effects ◽  
Subjective Response ◽  
Negative Mood States ◽  
Stress Responding

Background: Aspects of the canonical stress response differ in stimulant, opioid, and alcohol users relative to controls, and dysregulated responses to stress may contribute to continued use of these drugs. Little prior research has focused on stress responses in regular cannabis smokers. We assessed responses to a standardized laboratory social stress assay (the Trier Social Stress Task; TSST) in regular cannabis smokers (CANs) compared with controls (CONs). Methods: Healthy, non-treatment-seeking adult CANs (⩾4×/week; smoking cannabis as usual) and demographically matched CONs completed the TSST. Outcome measures were subjective mood, heart rate, and salivary cortisol. Results: Nineteen CANs (1 female) and 20 CONs (2 female) participated; groups were matched on trauma exposure, sex, race, and age. CANs smoked cannabis 6.4 ± 1.1 days/week. Eight CANs and one CON smoked tobacco cigarettes daily. Overall, the TSST produced expected increases in anxiety, negative mood states, cortisol, and heart rate. CANs had blunted subjective response to stress relative to CONs, but they did not differ in physiological (cortisol and cardiovascular) stress responding. Conclusion: These results indicate that CANs have blunted mood responses to social stress, but normative physiological stress responding. Observed differences could be due to residual effects of cannabis, reluctance to endorse negative mood states, or to issues related to identifying (i.e., emotional identification) or feeling (i.e., interoception) stress-related affective states. Further research is warranted to characterize the mechanisms of these differences and assess implications for daily functioning and treatment outcomes.

scholarly journals Effect of Diet Supplementation with Quinoa Seed and/or Linseed on Immune Response, Productivity and Meat Quality in Merinos Derived Lambs

Animals ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (11) ◽  
pp. 204 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rosaria Marino ◽  
Mariangela Caroprese ◽  
Giovanni Annicchiarico ◽  
Francesco Ciampi ◽  
Maria Ciliberti ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Immune Response ◽  
Meat Quality ◽  
Stress Responses ◽  
Stressful Events ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Close Link ◽  
Plasma Urea ◽  
Strong Relation ◽  
And Control

In the last years several studies have investigated the strong relation between nutrition and immune response in the livestock production, particularly in dairy cattle and sheep. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of supplementation based on linseed, quinoa seeds and their combination on welfare, productivity and quality of meat from merinos derived lambs. 32 weaned lambs were divided into 4 experimental groups: quinoa (Q), linseed (LS) and combination of quinoa and linseed (LS + Q) that received the respective supplementation and control group (C) without supplementation. Lambs from all supplemented groups showed lower plasma urea, creatinine and cholesterol than control. Both linseed and quinoa supplementation enhanced the cell-mediated immune responses of lambs, furthermore, linseed supplementation resulted in the lowest level of cortisol secretion after handling, loading and transport. Meat from lambs supplemented with linseed and LS + Q showed the highest pH, at 1 and 3 h post-mortem, while, meat from all supplemented groups was more tender than meat from control. Results indicated that linseed and quinoa seeds supplementation can help the animal to cope with stressful events due to the close link between stress responses and the immune system and for improving meat quality in terms of better tenderness.

scholarly journals Social Hierarchy Effects on Stress Responses of Subordinate Specimens in Sea Bream (Sparus aurata)

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maria Dioguardi ◽  
Mirella Vazzana ◽  
Mariano Dara ◽  
Irene Vazzana ◽  
Davide Accardi ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Stress Responses ◽  
Phagocytic Activity ◽  
Social Stress ◽  
Physiological Stress ◽  
Sparus Aurata ◽  
Principal Component ◽  
Social Hierarchy ◽  
Sea Bream ◽  
Stress Markers ◽  
Environmental Variations

Abstract: Social stress can affect the ability of the fish to respond to various stressors, such as pathogens or environmental variations. In this paper, the effects of social stress on gilt-head bream (Sparus aurata) were investigated. To study the effects of physiological stress, we evaluated biochemical and cellular parameters as cortisol, glucose, lactate, osmolarity and phagocytosis 24 hours after the establishment of social hierarchy. Social hierarchy was determined and characterised by behavioural observation (aggressive acts and feeding order) of the specimens (dominant “α”, subordinate “β” and “γ”). After the establishment of the social hierarchy, we observed that the levels of plasma cortisol and other biochemical stress markers (glucose and lactate) were higher in subordinate individuals than in dominant ones. In addition, the modulation of phagocytic activity of the peritoneal cavity cells (PEC) demonstrated that social stress appeared to affect the immune response. At last, principal component analysis clearly separated the subordinate fish groups from the dominant groups based on stress markers and phagocytic activity of the peritoneal exudates cells.

scholarly journals The Replicability and Generalizability of Internalizing Symptom Networks Across Five Samples

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carter J. Funkhouser ◽  
Kelly Correa
Keyword(s):  
Network Structure ◽  
Internalizing Symptoms ◽  
Rank Order ◽  
Network Models ◽  
Clinical Samples ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Total N ◽  
Correlation Networks ◽  
Global Strength ◽  
Central Symptom

The popularity of network analysis in psychopathology research has increased exponentially in recent years. Yet, little research has examined the replicability of cross-sectional psychopathology network models, and those that have used single items for symptoms rather than multi-item scales. The present study therefore examined the replicability and generalizability of regularized partial correlation networks of internalizing symptoms within and across five samples (total N = 2,573) using the Inventory for Depression and Anxiety Symptoms, a factor analytically-derived measure of individual internalizing symptoms. As different metrics may yield different conclusions about the replicability of network parameters, we examined both global and specific metrics of similarity between networks. Correlations within and between nonclinical samples suggested considerable global similarities in network structure (rss = .53-.87) and centrality strength (rss = .37-.86), but weaker similarities in network structure (rss = .36-.66) and centrality (rss = .04-.54) between clinical and nonclinical samples. Global strength (i.e., connectivity) did not significantly differ across all five networks and few edges (0-5.5%) significantly differed between networks. Specific metrics of similarity indicated that, on average, approximately 80% of edges were consistently estimated within and between all five samples. The most central symptom (i.e., dysphoria) was consistent within and across samples, but there were few other matches in centrality rank-order. In sum, there were considerable similarities in network structure, the presence and sign of individual edges, and the most central symptom within and across internalizing symptom networks estimated from nonclinical samples, but global metrics suggested network structure and symptom centrality had weak to moderate generalizability from nonclinical to clinical samples.

Does Stress-Related Growth Really Matter for Adolescents’ Day-to-Day Adaptive Functioning?

2016 ◽  
Vol 37 (5) ◽  
pp. 677-695 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cade D. Mansfield ◽  
Lisa M. Diamond
Keyword(s):  
Individual Differences ◽  
Social Stress ◽  
Adaptive Functioning ◽  
Social Resources ◽  
Coping Behaviors ◽  
Daily Stress ◽  
Domain Specific ◽  
Adolescent Stress ◽  
Questionnaire Measure ◽  
Empirical Demonstration

Adolescent stress-related growth refers to enhancement in an adolescent’s cognitive-affective or social resources as a result of experiencing stressors. We tested whether adolescents reporting high levels of stress-related growth showed superior adaptation outcomes on a day-to-day basis. Participants ( n = 91; females = 46, age = 14) completed a questionnaire measure of stress-related growth and kept a diary of emotional and interpersonal functioning for 10 consecutive days. Individual differences in cognitive-affective stress-related growth moderated associations between daily stress levels and adaptive coping behaviors, whereas individual differences in social stress-related growth moderated associations between daily mother-child conflict and end-of-day negative affect. This study provides the first empirical demonstration of domain-specific forms of stress-related growth during adolescence.

Meta-analysis of the effectiveness of the Trier Social Stress Test in eliciting physiological stress responses in children and adolescents

2020 ◽  
Vol 116 ◽  
pp. 104582 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jessica A. Seddon ◽  
Violeta J. Rodriguez ◽  
Yannick Provencher ◽  
Jacquelyn Raftery-Helmer ◽  
Jacqueline Hersh ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Children And Adolescents ◽  
Stress Responses ◽  
Social Stress ◽  
Physiological Stress ◽  
Meta Analysis ◽  
Stress Test ◽  
Trier Social Stress Test

scholarly journals Environment and Behavior: Neurochemical Effects of Different Diets in the Calf Brain

Animals ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (6) ◽  
pp. 358 ◽  
Author(s):  
Angelo Peli ◽  
Annamaria Grandis ◽  
Marco Tassinari ◽  
Paolo Famigli Bergamini ◽  
Claudio Tagliavia ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Prefrontal Cortex ◽  
Paraventricular Nucleus ◽  
Stress Responses ◽  
Control Diet ◽  
Brain Regions ◽  
Diet Group ◽  
Stressful Events ◽  
Solitary Tract ◽  
Milk Diet ◽  
Housing Systems

Calves reared for the production of white veal are subjected to stressful events due to the type of liquid diet they receive. Stress responses are mediated by three main stress-responsive cerebral regions: the prefrontal cortex, the paraventricular nucleus of the hypothalamus, and the nucleus of the solitary tract of the brainstem. In the present study, we have investigated the effects of different diets on these brain regions of ruminants using immunohistochemical methods. In this study, 15 calves were used and kept in group housing systems of five calves each. They were fed with three different diets: a control diet, a milk diet, and a weaned diet. Brain sections were immunostained to evaluate the distribution of neuronal nitric oxide synthase and myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein immunoreactivity in the prefrontal cortex; the expression of oxytocin in the paraventricular nucleus; and the presence of c-Fos in the A2 group of the nucleus of the solitary tract. The main results obtained indicate that in weaned diet group the oxytocin activity is lower than in control diet and milk diet groups. In addition, weaning appears to stimulate myelination in the prefrontal cortex. In summary, this study supports the importance of maintaining a nutritional lifestyle similar to that occurring in natural conditions.

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