A Longitudinal Reservoir Model of Stress Dissipation and the Influences of Concomitant Perceptions of Control

Abstract

To characterize the stress regulation system, we use a reservoir to reflect how much stress an individual “holds” over time. Factors affecting what is contained in a stress reservoir are incoming stress (Input), accumulation/dissipation (Strdiss), and actions taken to discharge stress (e.g., Control). At the within person level, time-varying control predicts better Strdiss (β= -0.03±0.01, p <.001), even when controlling for between person differences (e.g., age, neuroticism) and between and within person impacts of Input. Thus, control reflects an important stress dissipation tool. Further analyses indicated a significant 2-way interaction between time-varying effects of Input and Control (β= 0.14±0.03, p <.0001) and Strdiss and Control (β= 0.60±0.18, p <.001) on self-reported health and a significant 3-way time-varying interaction of Input, Strdiss and Control on depression (β= -0.173±0.07, p <.012). Studies of this type move beyond the static assessments of risk and resilience to a more dynamic one.

A tutorial on ordinary differential equations in behavioral science: What does physics teach us?

“…Let see how these key points translate in an example. A first-order differential equation has been proposed by Deboeck and Bergeman (Bergeman et al, 2020; Deboeck & Bergeman, 2013) to model the rating of stress experienced by participants. In this case, the variable is supposed to be a quantity, so it is an amount of stress (or stress is an amount of something more fundamental).…”

“…The main ODE models used in the literature are the damped oscillator model, which is a second-order ODE with constant coefficients able to describe the dynamics of a system around its equilibrium (Bisconti et al, 2004; Boker, Moulder, et al, 2019; Chow et al, 2005; Deboeck et al, 2008; Gasimova et al, 2014; Hu & Treinen, 2019; Odgers et al, 2009; Steele & Ferrer, 2011), and models based on first-order ODE allowing to describe the evolution of self-regulated ensembles (Bergeman et al, 2020; Deboeck & Bergeman, 2013; Hamerle et al, 1993; Mongin et al, 2020; Timms et al, 2013; Voelkle et al, 2012).…”