We examined the effects of brief psychological stressors on cardiovascular, neuroendocrine, and cellular immune response in 22 older women to investigate the common effects of stress across systems. Results revealed that psychological stressors heightened cardiac sympathetic activation, elevated plasma catecholamine concentrations, and affected the cellular immune response (ps < 0.05). In a replication and extension, 27 women caring for a spouse with a progressive dementia (high chronic stress) and 37 controls category matched for age and family income (low chronic stress) performed the 12-min laboratory stressor. Measures were taken before (low acute stress) and immediately following (high acute stress) exposure to the laboratory stressors as well as 30 min after termination of the stressor (recovery period). Acute stress again heightened cardiac sympathetic activation, elevated plasma catecholamine concentrations, and affected cellular immune responses (ps < 0.05), whereas chronic stress was associated with higher reports of negative affect, enhanced cardiac sympathetic activation, elevated blood pressure and plasma levels of ACTH, and diminished production of interleukin-1 beta (ps < 0.05). Correlational analyses in both studies further suggested that individuals who showed the greatest stress-related changes in HPA activation also exhibited the greatest diminution in cellular immune response.

We discuss the construct of doubt about one's competence and suggest that doubt can have myriad consequences (e.g., self-handicapping, defensive pessimism). We focus on the effect of self-doubt when it is combined with a concern with performance and assert that this combination leads to the phenomenon of subjective overachievement. In two studies, we present a new

We investigated autonomic and endocrine responses to acute stressors in 27 women who were or are presently caring for a spouse with a progressive dementia (high chronic stress) and 37 noncaregivers who were category matched for age and family income (low chronic stress). Measures were taken before (low acute stress) and in response to brief laboratory stressors (high acute stress). We replicated prior research showing that caregivers report greater stress, depression, and loneliness than the comparison groups, and acute stressors elevate autonomic and neuroendocrine activity. We also found that caregivers, relative to noncaregivers, exhibited shorter preejection periods and elevated blood pressure and heart rate, but the magnitude of autonomic and neuroendocrine reactivity to the experimental stressors was comparable across these groups. This pattern of autonomic differentiation replicates prior research showing that caregivers are characterized by higher sympathetic activation than noncaregivers and suggests that the effects of chronic stress on physiological reactivity may be a less robust effect in older adults.

We report long-term temporal consistency of stress-related neuroendocrine and cardiovascular variables in mid-aged and older women who performed mental math and speech stress tasks two times approximately 1 year apart. Epinephrine, norepinephrine, ACTH, cortisol, cardiac preejection period (PEP), respiratory sinus arrhythmia, heart rate (HR), blood pressure, and respiration rate were measured at baseline, after or during stressors, and 30 min posttask. Although there were exceptions, year-to-year Spearman coefficients showed mostly moderate to high consistency (rs approximately equal to .5-.8) for baseline, stressor, and posttask values. For reactivity, HR and PEP were most consistent (rs approximately equal to .65); consistency for other variables was moderate to low (rs approximately equal to .1-.4). Means of most variables changed from year to year. Results support the use of baseline, stressor, and posttask values in longitudinal studies.

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