scholarly journals Acute relaxation during pregnancy leads to a reduction in maternal electrodermal activity, changes in cardiovascular activity and subjective stress levels depending on the week of gestation.

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ilena Bauer ◽  
Julia Hartkopf ◽  
Anna-Karin Wikström ◽  
Nora Schaal ◽  
Hubert Preissl ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Heart Rate ◽  
Skin Conductance ◽  
Maternal Stress ◽  
Physiological Stress ◽  
Electrodermal Activity ◽  
Skin Conductance Level ◽  
Self Report ◽  
Relaxation Techniques ◽  
Management Interventions ◽  
Stress Levels

Background: Prenatal maternal stress can have adverse effects on birth outcomes and fetal development. Relaxation techniques have been examined as one potential countermeasure. This study investigates different relaxation techniques and their effect on mood and physiological stress levels in pregnant women.Methods: 36 pregnant women (30 to 40 weeks of gestation) were randomly assigned to one of three groups: music, guided imagery or resting. Dependent measures included self-report questionnaires, subjective ratings of stress levels as well as physiological measures, i.e. cardiovascular and electrodermal activity.Results: All three forms of relaxation led to reduced maternal stress: decreased heart rate and decreased skin conductance levels. Based on heart rate, skin conductance level and stress ratings there were no significant differences between relaxation interventions. Subjective post-intervention stress ratings indicated that more relaxation occured after intervention in earlier gestation than in late gestation.Conclusion: Independent of relaxation technique, a 20-minute period of acute relaxation can reduce maternal stress. Notably, women earlier in pregnancy reported to be more relaxed after the intervention than women later in gestation. Hence, gestational age can influence perceived stress levels and should be considered when evaluating relaxation or stress management interventions during pregnancy.

scholarly journals Acute relaxation during pregnancy leads to a reduction in maternal electrodermal activity and self-reported stress levels

2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ilena Bauer ◽  
Julia Hartkopf ◽  
Anna-Karin Wikström ◽  
Nora K. Schaal ◽  
Hubert Preissl ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Pregnant Women ◽  
Chronic Stress ◽  
Skin Conductance ◽  
Gestational Age ◽  
Guided Imagery ◽  
Maternal Stress ◽  
Relaxation Techniques ◽  
Significant Group ◽  
Management Interventions ◽  
Stress Levels

Abstract Background Prenatal maternal stress can have adverse effects on birth outcomes and fetal development. Relaxation techniques have been examined as potential countermeasures. This study investigates different relaxation techniques and their effect on self-reported stress levels and physiological stress levels in pregnant women. Methods In this cross-sectional study, 38 pregnant women in their 30th to 40th gestational week were assigned to one of three, 20-min lasting relaxation groups: listening to music (N = 12), following a guided imagery (N = 12) or resting (N = 12). The intervention, i.e., acute relaxation (music, guided imagery or resting) took place once for each study participant. Study inclusion criteria were age over 18 years, German speaking, singleton and uncomplicated pregnancy during the 30th and 40th week of gestation. The stress levels were determined during the study. Current stress level during the study was assessed by a visual analogue scale. Chronic stress levels were assessed by the Trier Inventory of Chronic Stress and the Pregnancy Distress questionnaire. Multivariate analyses of covariance were performed and dependent measures included stress levels as well as physiological measures, i.e., cardiovascular activity (electrocardiogram) and skin conductance levels. Results All three forms of relaxation led to reduced maternal stress which manifested itself in significantly decreased skin conductance, F(3,94) = 18.011, p = .001, ηp2 = .365, and subjective stress levels after the interventions with no significant group difference. Post-intervention stress ratings were further affected by gestational age, with less subjective relaxation in women later in gestation, F (1, 34)=4.971, p = .032, ηp2 = .128. Conclusion Independent of relaxation technique, single, 20-min relaxation intervention (music, guided imagery or resting) can significantly reduce maternal stress. Notably, women at an earlier stage in their pregnancy reported higher relaxation after the intervention than women later in gestation. Hence, gestational age may influence perceived stress levels and should be considered when evaluating relaxation or stress management interventions during pregnancy. Trial registration Not applicable.

The Effect of Searching Versus Surfing on Cognitive and Emotional Responses to Online News

2009 ◽  
Vol 21 (2) ◽  
pp. 49-59 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kevin Wise ◽  
Hyo Jung Kim ◽  
Jeesum Kim
Keyword(s):  
Heart Rate ◽  
Skin Conductance ◽  
Skin Conductance Level ◽  
Emotional Responses ◽  
Online News ◽  
Self Report ◽  
Mixed Design ◽  
Information Need ◽  
News Stories ◽  
Rate Acceleration

A mixed-design experiment was conducted to explore differences between searching and surfing on cognitive and emotional responses to online news. Ninety-two participants read three unpleasant news stories from a website. Half of the participants acquired their stories by searching, meaning they had a previous information need in mind. The other half of the participants acquired their stories by surfing, with no previous information need in mind. Heart rate, skin conductance, and corrugator activation were collected as measures of resource allocation, motivational activation, and unpleasantness, respectively, while participants read each story. Self-report valence and recognition accuracy were also measured. Stories acquired by searching elicited greater heart rate acceleration, skin conductance level, and corrugator activation during reading. These stories were rated as more unpleasant, and their details were recognized more accurately than similar stories that were acquired by surfing. Implications of these results for understanding how people process online media are discussed.

scholarly journals Physiological Measurements of Stress Preceding Incidents of Challenging Behavior in People With Severe to Profound Intellectual Disabilities: Longitudinal Study Protocol of Single-Case Studies (Preprint)

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rianne Simons ◽  
Renske Koordeman ◽  
Peter de Looff ◽  
Roy Otten
Keyword(s):  
Heart Rate ◽  
Challenging Behavior ◽  
Physiological Stress ◽  
Electrodermal Activity ◽  
Single Case ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Staff Members ◽  
Recurrence Quantification ◽  
Stress Levels ◽  
Cross Recurrence Quantification

BACKGROUND Clients with severe to profound intellectual disabilities (SPID) and challenging behavior (CB) and the professional caregivers that support them are vulnerable to high stress levels, which negatively impact their well-being and the quality of care. CB is thought to result from an increase in the intensity and frequency of clients’ stress experiences. In turn, staff members experience stress in dealing with this behavior, and stressed staff members might behave in ways that increase clients’ stress levels, contributing to the origin and maintenance of CB. Research into these dyadic interactions between clients and staff is scarce for people with SPID, especially in real-life situations. The barriers of studying stress in this population include clients’ difficulties in communicating stress experiences and the lack of an objective continuous measure of stress. OBJECTIVE This paper presents a protocol for studying patterns of physiological stress in 15 client-caregiver dyads in the 30 minutes preceding incidents of CB compared to control periods without CB and the interplay between the stress levels of clients and professional caregivers. METHODS We will conduct 15 single-case studies to assess patterns of physiological stress in dyads of clients with SPID and professional caregivers prior to CB in several Dutch residential institutes. Client-caregiver dyads will wear the Empatica E4 wristband for 20 sessions of 3 to 8 hours without interruptions of daily routines while caregivers report clients’ CB. The physiological measures obtained will be electrodermal activity (microsiemens) and heart rate (beats per minute). A multilevel model with repeated measures at the incident level nested within the person level will be applied, employing separate models for electrodermal activity and heart rate to compare stress levels in the 30 minutes prior to incidents with control epochs. Covariates in the models include movement, temperature, and gender. In addition, cross-recurrence quantification analyses will be performed to study the synchronization between the stress levels of clients and professional caregivers. RESULTS The Ethics Committee of the Radboud University (NL-number: NL71683.091.19) approved the study on February 12, 2020. In total, 15 organizations have declared their commitment to participate in the study. The first result is expected in the spring of 2022. CONCLUSIONS Study results will demonstrate whether changes in patterns of electrodermal activity and heart rate are apparent in the 30 minutes preceding an incident of CB compared to baseline levels when the client does not engage in CB. The synchronization between caregivers’ and clients’ physiological stress levels will be explored with cross-recurrence quantification analyses. Insights into the physiological stress levels of clients and caregivers may contribute to a reduction of CB and an improvement of both clients’ and caregivers’ safety and well-being. INTERNATIONAL REGISTERED REPORT DERR1-10.2196/24911

scholarly journals Pain modulation by your partner: An experimental investigation from a social-affective perspective

PLoS ONE ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (7) ◽  
pp. e0254069
Author(s):  
Katrin Hillmer ◽  
Judith Kappesser ◽  
Christiane Hermann
Keyword(s):  
Heart Rate ◽  
Pain Intensity ◽  
Interpersonal Relationships ◽  
Skin Conductance ◽  
Skin Conductance Level ◽  
Pain Modulation ◽  
Self Report ◽  
Autonomic Activity ◽  
Affective States ◽  
Subjective Report

Background Social context such as the relationship between a person experiencing pain and a caregiver has been shown to affect the experience of pain, yet, results are not consistent. Possibly, differential effects of interpersonal relationships are modulated by affective states expressed by social partners. Viewing partner pictures in experimental designs is not only associated with lowered perceived pain intensity, but also affects neural responses. However, the role of affective modulation is not clear. The present study aimed to systematically examine the pain modulating effects of stimuli varying in affect and social content including personal relevance using subjective report and psychophysiological measures of facial and autonomic activity. Methods Twenty-nine women underwent a tonic heat pain paradigm with simultaneous picture viewing to investigate the influence of their partners’ faces with a neutral facial expression compared to strangers’ happy, angry and neutral facial expressions on pain intensity and accompanying psychophysiological parameters (facial activity: corrugator muscle activity, autonomic activity: skin conductance level, heart rate). In addition to perceived partner support and relationship characteristics, the contribution of the affective value (valence, arousal) of the partner faces to the observed pain modulation was examined. Results Partner and happy faces reduced self-reported pain intensity and corrugator activity, the latter being lowest when viewing partner faces as compared to all other picture categories. As corrugator activity is indexing stimulus unpleasantness and a core feature of the facial pain expression, this physiological pattern matches well with the subjective ratings. Neutral objects, neutral and angry faces had no effect on pain self-report, although angry faces were rated as highly negative. Partner faces also led to increased skin conductance, being an index of motivational activation, and heart rate deceleration, possibly reflecting increased sensory intake. Partner-related pain modulation was primarily related to perceived arousal of the partner’s picture, i.e., the intensity of the activation of approach motivation, and pain-related catastrophizing. Discussion Our results are partially consistent with emotional pain control models, especially regarding the modulatory influence of valence. Within the context of socially adaptive behavior, they particularly underline the social signal value of emotion and attachment figures. Clinically, our results imply that just looking at pictures of one’s partner when undergoing acute painful procedures can have a robust hypoalgesic effect.

scholarly journals Physiological Measurements of Stress Preceding Incidents of Challenging Behavior in People With Severe to Profound Intellectual Disabilities: Longitudinal Study Protocol of Single-Case Studies

10.2196/24911 ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (7) ◽  
pp. e24911
Author(s):  
Rianne Simons ◽  
Renske Koordeman ◽  
Peter de Looff ◽  
Roy Otten
Keyword(s):  
Heart Rate ◽  
Challenging Behavior ◽  
Physiological Stress ◽  
Electrodermal Activity ◽  
Single Case ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Staff Members ◽  
Recurrence Quantification ◽  
Stress Levels ◽  
Cross Recurrence Quantification

Background Clients with severe to profound intellectual disabilities (SPID) and challenging behavior (CB) and the professional caregivers that support them are vulnerable to high stress levels, which negatively impact their well-being and the quality of care. CB is thought to result from an increase in the intensity and frequency of clients’ stress experiences. In turn, staff members experience stress in dealing with this behavior, and stressed staff members might behave in ways that increase clients’ stress levels, contributing to the origin and maintenance of CB. Research into these dyadic interactions between clients and staff is scarce for people with SPID, especially in real-life situations. The barriers of studying stress in this population include clients’ difficulties in communicating stress experiences and the lack of an objective continuous measure of stress. Objective This paper presents a protocol for studying patterns of physiological stress in 15 client-caregiver dyads in the 30 minutes preceding incidents of CB compared to control periods without CB and the interplay between the stress levels of clients and professional caregivers. Methods We will conduct 15 single-case studies to assess patterns of physiological stress in dyads of clients with SPID and professional caregivers prior to CB in several Dutch residential institutes. Client-caregiver dyads will wear the Empatica E4 wristband for 20 sessions of 3 to 8 hours without interruptions of daily routines while caregivers report clients’ CB. The physiological measures obtained will be electrodermal activity (microsiemens) and heart rate (beats per minute). A multilevel model with repeated measures at the incident level nested within the person level will be applied, employing separate models for electrodermal activity and heart rate to compare stress levels in the 30 minutes prior to incidents with control epochs. Covariates in the models include movement, temperature, and gender. In addition, cross-recurrence quantification analyses will be performed to study the synchronization between the stress levels of clients and professional caregivers. Results The Ethics Committee of the Radboud University (NL-number: NL71683.091.19) approved the study on February 12, 2020. In total, 15 organizations have declared their commitment to participate in the study. The first result is expected in the spring of 2022. Conclusions Study results will demonstrate whether changes in patterns of electrodermal activity and heart rate are apparent in the 30 minutes preceding an incident of CB compared to baseline levels when the client does not engage in CB. The synchronization between caregivers’ and clients’ physiological stress levels will be explored with cross-recurrence quantification analyses. Insights into the physiological stress levels of clients and caregivers may contribute to a reduction of CB and an improvement of both clients’ and caregivers’ safety and well-being. International Registered Report Identifier (IRRID) DERR1-10.2196/24911

What makes music relaxing? An investigation into musical elements

2018 ◽  
Vol 48 (3) ◽  
pp. 327-343 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eugenia Hernandez-Ruiz ◽  
Bianca James ◽  
Jordan Noll ◽  
Evangelia G. Chrysikou
Keyword(s):  
Heart Rate ◽  
Respiration Rate ◽  
Skin Conductance ◽  
Skin Conductance Level ◽  
Self Report ◽  
Bass Clarinet ◽  
Psychophysiological Responses ◽  
Psychophysiological Measures ◽  
Psychophysiological Data ◽  
Musical Elements

Research on specific qualities of music used for relaxation has shown conflicting results. The use of different familiar or pre-composed pieces, with many simultaneous changes, might limit the ability to discriminate which musical element is responsible for the relaxation response. To address the latter, we examined the relaxing effects of music on three psychophysiological measures (heart rate, respiration rate, and skin conductance) with one original piece of music, and three modified versions (altering one musical element in each version). We investigated whether participants’ psychophysiological responses reflected a more “relaxed” state (lower heart rate, respiration rate, and skin conductance) with slower tempo (45 bpm), mellow timbre (bass clarinet), or smaller amplitude (-10 dB). We also investigated whether psychophysiological responses were consistent with self-report scores. Visual inspection of psychophysiological data indicated two distinct responder profiles, and a logistic regression confirmed this distinction. Using mixed ANCOVAs, we found significant differences between participants (responders and non-responders) in skin conductance level. No correlations between psychophysiological measures and self-reports were found. These findings raise interesting questions regarding the mechanisms behind the relaxing effects of music.

Eye movement desensitisation and reprocessing versus exposure in vivo

1997 ◽  
Vol 171 (1) ◽  
pp. 82-86 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter Muris ◽  
Harald Merckelbach ◽  
Hans Van Haaften ◽  
Birgit Mayer
Keyword(s):  
Eye Movement ◽  
Skin Conductance ◽  
Skin Conductance Level ◽  
Specific Phobia ◽  
Self Report ◽  
Post Traumatic Stress ◽  
Positive Effects ◽  
Additional Value ◽  
Conductance Level

BackgroundEye movement desensitisation and reprocessing (EMDR) is a relatively new therapeutic technique that has been proposed as a treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder and other anxiety complaints.MethodWe compared the efficacy of EMDR with that of exposure in viv. in the treatment of a specific phobia. Twenty-two spider-phobic children who met the DSM – III – R criteria for specific phobia participated in the study. Children were treated with one session of exposure in viv. and one session of EMDR in a crossover design. Treatment outcome was evaluated by self-report measures, a behavioural avoidance test and a physiological index (skin conductance level).ResultsResults showed positive effects of EMDR, but also suggest that it is especially self-report measures that are sensitive to EMDR. Improvement on a behavioural measure was less pronounced, and exposure in viv. was found to be superior in reducing avoidance behaviour. With regard to skin conductance level, EMDR and exposure in viv. did not differ.ConclusionsEMDR has no additional value in treatment of this type of animal phobia, for which exposure in viv. is the treatment of choice.

scholarly journals Physiological synchrony promotes cooperative success in real-life interactions

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
F. Behrens ◽  
J. A. Snijdewint ◽  
R. G. Moulder ◽  
E. Prochazkova ◽  
E. E. Sjak-Shie ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Heart Rate ◽  
Skin Conductance ◽  
Cooperative Behavior ◽  
Skin Conductance Level ◽  
Real Life ◽  
Dyadic Interaction ◽  
Gut Feelings ◽  
The Face ◽  
Social Decision Making ◽  
Conductance Level

AbstractCooperation is pivotal for society to flourish and prosper. To ease cooperation, humans express and read emotions and intentions via explicit signals or subtle reflections of arousal visible in the face. Evidence is accumulating that humans synchronize these nonverbal expressions, as well as the physiological mechanisms underlying them, potentially promoting cooperative behavior. The current study is designed to verify the existence of this putative linkage between synchrony and cooperation. To that extent, 152 participants played multiple rounds of the Prisoner’s Dilemma game in a naturalistic dyadic interaction setting. During one round of games they could see each other, and during a second round they could not. The results showed that when people’s heart rate and skin conductance level aligned, they cooperated more successfully. Interestingly, for skin conductance level synchrony to boost cooperation, face to face contact was essential. The effect of heart rate synchrony on cooperation was context independent. Skin conductance level, but not heart rate, tended to closely correlate with changes in pupil size and we discuss how the pupil might provide a window to partners’ sympathetic arousal. These findings show how unconscious mechanisms guide social behavior and emphasize the importance of studying social processes between rather than within individuals in real-life interactions.Significance StatementHuman cooperation is remarkable in its scale, complexity, and efficiency. However, whereas people think of themselves as rational agents, they actually partly base their decision to cooperate with someone on gut feelings. These feelings are informed by non-verbal expressions that are picked up implicitly and that synchronize across interaction partners. For the first time, we show that the alignment of people’s arousal over multiple rounds of the Prisoners’ dilemma game predicts cooperative success. Through synchrony, partners converge emotionally, fostering understanding and bonding, which are key ingredients when it comes to successful cooperation. This suggests that successfully cooperating does not depend on individuals, but on the connection between individuals, emphasizing the importance of studying social decision-making processes in real-life settings.

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