Effects of Aerobic Exercise on Cortisol Stress Reactivity in Response to the Trier Social Stress Test in Inpatients with Major Depressive Disorders: A Randomized Controlled Trial

Physical activity is associated with a favourable (blunted) cortisol stress reactivity in healthy people. However, evidence from experimental study and with psychiatric patients is missing. This study examines whether exercise training impacts on cortisol stress reactivity in inpatients with major depressive disorder (MDD). These new insights are important because the stress reactivity of healthy people and patients with severe symptoms of depression might differ. Methods: The study was designed as a randomized controlled trial (trial registration number: NCT02679053). In total, 25 patients (13 women, 12 men, mean age: 38.1 ± 12.0 years) completed a laboratory stressor task before and after a six-week intervention period. Nine samples of salivary free cortisol were taken before and after the Trier social stress test (TSST). Fourteen participants took part in six weeks of aerobic exercise training, while 11 patients were allocated to the control condition. While the primary outcome of the study was depressive symptom severity, the focus of this paper is on one of the secondary outcomes (cortisol reactivity during the TSST). The impact of aerobic exercise training was examined with a repeated-measures analysis of variance. We also examined the association between change in depression and cortisol response via correlational analysis. Cortisol reactivity did not change from baseline to post-intervention, either in the intervention or the control group. Participation in six weeks of aerobic exercise training was not associated with participants’ cortisol reactivity. Moreover, depressive symptom change was not associated with change in cortisol response. Aerobic exercise training was not associated with patients’ stress reactivity in this study. Because many patients initially showed a relatively flat/blunted cortisol response curve, efforts might be needed to find out which treatments are most efficient to promote a normalization of HPA axis reactivity.

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Sex Differences in the Cortisol Response to the Trier Social Stress Test in Depressed and Nondepressed Adolescents

Clinical Psychological Science ◽

10.1177/2167702617739973 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 6 (3) ◽

pp. 301-314 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Raegan Mazurka ◽

Katherine E. Wynne-Edwards ◽

Kate L. Harkness

Keyword(s):

Sex Differences ◽

Social Stress ◽

Stress Reactivity ◽

Stress Test ◽

Community Sample ◽

Trier Social Stress Test ◽

Cortisol Response ◽

Cortisol Reactivity ◽

Response To Stress ◽

Adolescent Period

Two of the most robust findings in depression research are (a) that women are twice as likely to become depressed than men and (b) that stress is an important risk factor for depression. Although sex differences in stress reactivity may be an important determinant of differential risk for depression, few studies have examined sex differences in neurobiological reactivity to stress. The purpose of the current study was to assess sex differences in the HPA axis response to stress in depressed versus healthy controls by comparing the cortisol response to the Trier Social Stress Test in a community sample of adolescents (ages 12–18). Depressed boys showed significantly heightened cortisol reactivity compared with depressed girls, whose response was blunted compared with nondepressed girls. This diverging pattern of cortisol reactivity to stress among depressed girls and boys may help to explain the sex difference in depression prevalence that emerges during the adolescent period.

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

10.31219/osf.io/4se5m ◽

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.

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

10.31231/osf.io/ug8r2 ◽

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

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Developmental changes in hypothalamus–pituitary–adrenal activity over the transition to adolescence: Normative changes and associations with puberty

Development and Psychopathology ◽

10.1017/s0954579409000054 ◽

2009 ◽

Vol 21 (1) ◽

pp. 69-85 ◽

Cited By ~ 406

Author(s):

Megan R. Gunnar ◽

Sandi Wewerka ◽

Kristin Frenn ◽

Jeffrey D. Long ◽

Christopher Griggs

Keyword(s):

Social Stress ◽

Stress Reactivity ◽

Stress Test ◽

Pubertal Development ◽

Trier Social Stress Test ◽

Cortisol Reactivity ◽

Sympathetic Modulation ◽

Pituitary Adrenal Axis ◽

Depressed Symptoms ◽

Child Depressive Symptoms

AbstractHome baseline and laboratory stressor (Trier Social Stress Test for Children) measures of salivary cortisol were obtained from 82 participants (40 girls) aged 9, 11, 13, and 15 years. Measures of pubertal development, self-reported stress, parent reports of child depressive symptoms and fearful temperament, and cardiac measures of sympathetic and parasympathetic activity were also obtained. Significant increases in the home cortisol baselines were found with age and pubertal development. Cortisol stress reactivity differed by age group with 11-year-olds and 13-year-old boys showing blunted reactivity and 9-year-olds, 13-year-old girls, and 15-year-olds showing significant cortisol reactions. Cortisol reactivity correlated marginally with sexual maturation. Measures of sympathetic activity revealed increased sympathetic modulation with age. Higher sympathetic tone was associated with more fearful temperament, whereas greater cortisol reactivity was associated with more anxious and depressed symptoms for girls. The importance of these findings for the hypothesis that puberty-associated increases in hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal axis activity heightens the risk of psychopathology is discussed.

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Associations between stress reactivity and behavior problems for previously institutionalized youth across puberty

Development and Psychopathology ◽

10.1017/s0954579420001297 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 32 (5) ◽

pp. 1854-1863

Author(s):

Nicole B. Perry ◽

Carrie E. DePasquale ◽

Bonny Donzella ◽

Megan R. Gunnar

Keyword(s):

Social Stress ◽

Internalizing Symptoms ◽

Developmental Psychopathology ◽

Stress Reactivity ◽

Stress Test ◽

Externalizing Symptoms ◽

Trier Social Stress Test ◽

Pubertal Stage ◽

Cortisol Reactivity ◽

Bidirectional Associations

AbstractMegan Gunnar's pubertal stress recalibration hypothesis was supported in a recent study of previously institutionalized (PI) youth such that increases in pubertal stage were associated with increases in cortisol stress reactivity. This work provides evidence that puberty may open up a window of recalibration for PI youth, resulting in a shift from a blunted to a more typical cortisol stress response. Using the same sample (N = 132), the current study aimed to elucidate whether increases in cortisol are associated with increases in adaptive functioning or whether they further underlie potential links to developmental psychopathology. Specifically, we examined the bidirectional associations between cortisol stress reactivity and both internalizing and externalizing symptoms across three timepoints during the pubertal period. Youth reported on their own internalizing symptoms and parents reported on youths’ externalizing symptoms. Cortisol reactivity was assessed during the Trier social stress test. Analyses revealed no associations between cortisol reactivity and externalizing symptoms across puberty for PI youth. However, longitudinal bidirectional associations did emerge for internalizing symptoms such that increases in cortisol reactivity predicted increases in internalizing symptoms and increases in internalizing symptoms predicted increases in cortisol reactivity. Findings suggest that recalibrating to more normative levels of cortisol reactivity may not always be associated with adaptive outcomes for PI youth.

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Reduced emotional stress reactivity to a real-life academic examination stressor in students participating in a 20-week aerobic exercise training: A randomised controlled trial using Ambulatory Assessment

Psychology of Sport and Exercise ◽

10.1016/j.psychsport.2015.04.004 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 20 ◽

pp. 67-75 ◽

Cited By ~ 19

Author(s):

Birte von Haaren ◽

Sascha Haertel ◽

Juergen Stumpp ◽

Stefan Hey ◽

Ulrich Ebner-Priemer

Keyword(s):

Randomised Controlled Trial ◽

Exercise Training ◽

Aerobic Exercise ◽

Emotional Stress ◽

Stress Reactivity ◽

Controlled Trial ◽

Real Life ◽

Aerobic Exercise Training ◽

Ambulatory Assessment ◽

Randomised Controlled

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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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