scholarly journals Specific reduction in cortisol stress reactivity after social but not attention-based mental training

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Veronika Engert ◽  
Bethany Kok ◽  
Ioannis Papassotiriou ◽  
George P. Chrousos ◽  
Tania Singer
Keyword(s):  
Psychosocial Stress ◽  
Social Stress ◽  
Stress Reactivity ◽  
Physiological Stress ◽  
Financial Burden ◽  
Effective Means ◽  
Present Moment ◽  
Mental Training ◽  
Immune Markers ◽  
Public Health Burden

Psychosocial stress is a public health burden in modern societies. Chronic stress–induced disease processes are,in large part, mediated via the activation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis and the sympathetic-adrenal-medullary system. We asked whether the contemplative mental training of different practice types targetingattentional, socio-affective (for example, compassion), or socio-cognitive abilities (for example, perspective-taking)in the context of a 9-month longitudinal training study offers an effective means for psychosocial stress reduction.Using a multimethod approach including subjective, endocrine, autonomic, and immune markers and testing 313participants in a standardized psychosocial laboratory stressor, we show that all three practice types markedly reducedself-reported stress reactivity in healthy participants. However, only the training of intersubjective skills via socio-affective and socio-cognitive routes attenuated the physiological stress response, specifically the secretion of theHPA axis end-product cortisol, by up to 51%. The assessed autonomic and innate immune markers were not influencedby any practice type. Mental training focused on present-moment attention and interoceptive awareness as im-plemented in many mindfulness-based intervention programs was thus limited to stress reduction on the level ofself-report. However, its effectiveness was equal to that of intersubjective practice types in boosting the associationbetween subjective and endocrine stress markers. Our results reveal a broadly accessible low-cost approach toacquiring psychosocial stress resilience. Short daily intersubjective practice may be a promising method for mini-mizing the incidence of chronic social stress–related disease, thereby reducing individual suffering and relieving asubstantial financial burden on society.

scholarly journals Acceptance lowers stress reactivity: Dismantling mindfulness training in a randomized controlled trial

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Emily K Lindsay ◽  
Shinzen Young ◽  
Joshua M Smyth ◽  
Kirk Warren Brown ◽  
J. David Creswell
Keyword(s):  
Blood Pressure ◽  
Emotion Regulation ◽  
Social Stress ◽  
Stress Reactivity ◽  
Controlled Trial ◽  
Stress Test ◽  
Mindfulness Training ◽  
Trier Social Stress Test ◽  
Present Moment ◽  
Regulation Mechanism

Objective: Mindfulness interventions, which train practitioners to monitor their present-moment experience with a lens of acceptance, are known to buffer stress reactivity. Little is known about the active mechanisms driving these effects. We theorize that acceptance is a critical emotion regulation mechanism underlying mindfulness stress reduction effects. Method: In this three-arm parallel trial, mindfulness components were dismantled into three structurally equivalent 15-lesson smartphone-based interventions: (1) training in both monitoring and acceptance (Monitor+Accept), (2) training in monitoring only (Monitor Only), or (3) active control training (Coping control). 153 stressed adults (mean age = 32 years; 67% female; 53% white, 21.5% black, 21.5% Asian, 4% other race) were randomly assigned to complete one of three interventions. After the intervention, cortisol, blood pressure, and subjective stress reactivity were assessed using a modified Trier Social Stress Test. Results: As predicted, Monitor+Accept training reduced cortisol and systolic blood pressure reactivity compared to Monitor Only and control trainings. Participants in all three conditions reported moderate levels of subjective stress.Conclusions: This study provides the first experimental evidence that brief smartphone mindfulness training can impact stress biology, and that acceptance training drives these effects. We discuss implications for basic and applied research in contemplative science, emotion regulation, stress and coping, health, and clinical interventions.

scholarly journals Acceptance lowers stress reactivity: Dismantling mindfulness training in a randomized controlled trial

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Emily K Lindsay ◽  
Shinzen Young ◽  
Joshua M Smyth ◽  
Kirk Warren Brown ◽  
J. David Creswell
Keyword(s):  
Blood Pressure ◽  
Emotion Regulation ◽  
Social Stress ◽  
Stress Reactivity ◽  
Controlled Trial ◽  
Stress Test ◽  
Mindfulness Training ◽  
Trier Social Stress Test ◽  
Present Moment ◽  
Regulation Mechanism

Objective: Mindfulness interventions, which train practitioners to monitor their present-moment experience with a lens of acceptance, are known to buffer stress reactivity. Little is known about the active mechanisms driving these effects. We theorize that acceptance is a critical emotion regulation mechanism underlying mindfulness stress reduction effects. Method: In this three-arm parallel trial, mindfulness components were dismantled into three structurally equivalent 15-lesson smartphone-based interventions: (1) training in both monitoring and acceptance (Monitor+Accept), (2) training in monitoring only (Monitor Only), or (3) active control training (Coping control). 153 stressed adults (mean age = 32 years; 67% female; 53% white, 21.5% black, 21.5% Asian, 4% other race) were randomly assigned to complete one of three interventions. After the intervention, cortisol, blood pressure, and subjective stress reactivity were assessed using a modified Trier Social Stress Test. Results: As predicted, Monitor+Accept training reduced cortisol and systolic blood pressure reactivity compared to Monitor Only and control trainings. Participants in all three conditions reported moderate levels of subjective stress.Conclusions: This study provides the first experimental evidence that brief smartphone mindfulness training can impact stress biology, and that acceptance training drives these effects. We discuss implications for basic and applied research in contemplative science, emotion regulation, stress and coping, health, and clinical interventions.

scholarly journals Threat-induced hippocampal connectivity fingerprints do not generalize to psychosocial stress

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anne Kühnel ◽  
Michael Czisch ◽  
Philipp G. Sämann ◽  
Elisabeth B. Binder ◽  
Nils B. Kroemer ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Stress Responses ◽  
Psychosocial Stress ◽  
Social Stress ◽  
Stress Reactivity ◽  
Predictive Performance ◽  
Prediction Algorithm ◽  
Subjective Stress ◽  
Individual Level ◽  
Social Evaluative Threat ◽  
Induced Changes

AbstractStress is an everyday experience and maladaptive responses play a crucial role in the etiology of affective disorders. Despite its ubiquity, the neural underpinnings of subjective stress experiences have not yet been elucidated, particularly at an individual level. In an important advance, Goldfarb et al.1 showed recently that subjective stress and arousal levels in response to threatening stimuli were successfully predicted based on changes in hippocampal connectivity during the task using a machine learning approach. Crucially, stress responses were predicted by interpretable hippocampal connectivity networks, shedding new light on the role of the hippocampus in regulating stress reactivity2. However, the authors induced stress by displaying aversive pictures, while stress research often relies on the extensively validated Trier social stress task (TSST)3. The TSST incorporates crucial factors such as unpredictability of success and the social-evaluative threat of the stressor thereby eliciting cortisol responses more robustly compared to threatening images4. Towards generalization, cross validation within a sample as conducted by Goldfarb et al.1 or independent replications are important steps, but the generalizability to different stressors allows to draw broader conclusions about the potential use of hippocampal connectivity to predict subjective stress5. Arguably, translating these findings to clinical applications would require a broad generalization of the results or the prediction algorithm to psychosocial stress. Here, we assessed the predictive performance of Goldfarb et al’s1 algorithm for subjective stress in an independent sample using an MR adaption of the TSST6,7. In line with Goldfarb et al.1, we observed robust stress-induced changes in hippocampal connectivity. However, the spatial correlation of the changes in connectivity was low indicating little convergence across alleged stress paradigms. Critically, stress-induced changes of hippocampal connectivity were not robustly predictive of subjective stress across a multiverse of analyses based on connectivity changes. Collectively, this indicates that the generalizability of the reported stress connectivity fingerprint to other stressors is limited at best, suggesting that specific tasks might require tailored algorithms to robustly predict stress above chance levels.

scholarly journals Psychosocial stress reactivity habituates following acute physiological stress

2020 ◽  
Vol 41 (14) ◽  
pp. 4010-4023
Author(s):  
Anne Kühnel ◽  
Nils B. Kroemer ◽  
Immanuel G. Elbau ◽  
Michael Czisch ◽  
Philipp G. Sämann ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Psychosocial Stress ◽  
Stress Reactivity ◽  
Physiological Stress

scholarly journals Which Contextual Features Predict Physiological Stress Reactivity in Midlife to Late Life?

2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. 573-573
Author(s):  
Viktoryia Kalesnikava
Keyword(s):  
Perceived Stress ◽  
Social Stress ◽  
Stress Reactivity ◽  
Physiological Stress ◽  
Stress Test ◽  
Individual Characteristics ◽  
Self Report ◽  
Trier Social Stress Test ◽  
Targeted Interventions ◽  
Contextual Features

Abstract Chronic stress creates vulnerability to adverse mental and physical health outcomes in later life. While claims about the negative effects of stress on health are primarily based on self-report, it is unclear how subjective stress measures (chronic or perceived stress) and other environmental or individual characteristics (neighborhood, social and health behaviors) relate to physiological stress response. This study examines which contextual features contribute to differences in physiological stress reactivity among adults at risk of type II diabetes (Richmond Stress and Sugar Study, n=125, aged 40-70). Psycho-social stress was induced via Trier Social Stress Test. Using advanced selection methods, we simultaneously explore multiple predictors and illustrate how different sets of risk and protective factors contribute to normal or abnormal stress reactivity profiles. Preliminary results suggest that the top five important predictors are education, contact with friends, perceived stress, ruminative coping, and sedentary behavior. Implications for research and targeted interventions are discussed.

scholarly journals Cue-induced cocaine craving enhances psychosocial stress and vice versa in chronic cocaine users

2022 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ann-Kathrin Kexel ◽  
Bruno Kluwe-Schiavon ◽  
Markus R. Baumgartner ◽  
Etna J. E. Engeli ◽  
Monika Visentini ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Stress Response ◽  
Psychosocial Stress ◽  
Social Stress ◽  
Acute Stress ◽  
Physiological Stress ◽  
Growth Models ◽  
Stress Test ◽  
Trier Social Stress Test ◽  
Chronic Cocaine ◽  
Cocaine Users

There is evidence that stress and craving contribute to the development, maintenance, and relapse in cocaine use disorder. Previous research has shown altered physiological responses to psychosocial stress as well as increased vegetative responding to substance-related cues in chronic cocaine users (CU). However, how psychosocial stress and cue-induced craving interact in relation to the physiological response of CU is largely unknown. Therefore, we investigated the interaction between acute psychosocial stress and cocaine-cue-related reactivity in 47 CU and 38 controls. Participants were randomly exposed first to a video-based cocaine-cue paradigm and second to the Trier Social Stress Test (TSST) or vice versa in a crossed and balanced design to investigate possible mutually augmenting effects of both stressors on the physiological stress response. Plasma cortisol, ACTH, and noradrenaline as well as subjective stress and craving were assessed repeatedly over the course of the experimental procedure. Growth models and discontinuous growth models were used to estimate the responses during the cocaine-cue paradigm and TSST. Overall, both groups did not differ in their endocrinological responses to the TSST but CU displayed lower ACTH levels at baseline. The TSST did not elevate craving in CU. However, if the cocaine-cue video was shown first, CU displayed an enhanced cortisol response to the subsequent TSST. Cocaine-cues robustly evoked craving in CU but no stress response, while cue-induced craving was intensified after the TSST. Taken together, CU did not show an altered acute stress response during the TSST but stress and craving together seem to have mutually augmenting effects on their stress response.

scholarly journals Character strengths, social anxiety, and physiological stress reactivity

PeerJ ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 5 ◽  
pp. e3396 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tingting Li ◽  
Wenjie Duan ◽  
Pengfei Guo
Keyword(s):  
Social Anxiety ◽  
Social Stress ◽  
Stress Reactivity ◽  
Physiological Stress ◽  
Character Strengths ◽  
Physiological Adaptation ◽  
Physiological Data ◽  
Stress Exposure ◽  
Character Strength ◽  
Post Stress

In this paper, the effects of character strengths on the physiological reactivity to social anxiety induced by the Trier Social Stress Task were reported. On the basis of their scores in the Chinese Virtues Questionnaire, 30 college students were assigned to either high- (n = 15) or low-character-strength (n = 15) groups. Their psychological stress and physiological data across three laboratory stages (namely, baseline, stress exposure, and post-stress) were collected. Results indicated that individuals with high character strengths exhibited rapid cardiovascular recovery from baseline to post-stress even if high- and low-character-strength groups showed similar patterns of cardiovascular arousal in response to the stress at baseline and stress exposure. These results prove that character strengths are stress-defense factors that allow for psychological and physiological adaptation to stress.

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