Academic stress differentially influences perceived stress, salivary cortisol, and immunoglobulin-A in undergraduate students

Abstract

Academic examination stress is reported to increase physiological and self-report measures of stress and to decrease immune functioning. Here, we investigate biochemical and self-report measures of stress, immune functioning, and academic pressures before and during a midterm examination period. Undergraduate students were asked to complete a measure of global stress, the perceived stress scale (PSS-10), and to indicate their current level of perceived stress. They also answered questions regarding specific academic pressures and provided a saliva sample for cortisol and salivary immunoglobulin-A (S-IgA) quantification. Students showed increased salivary cortisol concentrations and also reported greater acute perceived stress during the examination period compared to the non-examination period. Although cortisol concentrations and perceived stress were significantly higher during the examination period, participants reported similar levels of global stress (PSS-10) during both testing sessions. Additional analyses showed a non-significant increase in the level of S-IgA from the non-examination period to the examination period. Specific pressure variables that appeared to contribute to stress regulation during the examination week included the amount of time spent studying and concern about the impact of examinations in the future. By demonstrating measures of chronic examination stress, these findings provide new insight into the complex relationship between examination stress, cortisol, and immune functioning.

Systematic Analysis of GWAS Data Reveals Genomic Hotspots for Shared Mechanisms between Neurodegenerative Diseases

“…This contradicts several previous studies that found different cortisol levels between normal and AD [74][75][76][77][78] and between normal and MCI groups [78,79]. Contrarily, it supports the literature that found no correlation between cortisol level and perceived stress in different populations [80][81][82]. Whereas, in this study more MCIs were diabetic, and diabetic patients have been found to secrete higher cortisol levels [83][84][85], likewise more AD patients were on sedatives or antidepressants.…”

Perceived Stress, Stress Symptoms, and Ways of Coping in Korean College Students

“…Comparing these results to Kim et al (1998) s study, which reported that the perceived stress level of the adults in their twenties was 1.7 and the rate of high stress level was 6.5%, the students perceived stress level was quite high and the rate of high stress level seems fairly high. These results show the increase of the college students stress level for last 10 years and support other research (Gong & Lee, 2006;Kim, 2003;Moon & Park, 2007;Murphy, Denis, Ward, & Tartar, 2010) which reported that college students difficulties in adaptation and interpersonal relationship as well as burden of job seeking and future career due to economic downturn made them experiencing tremendous stress.…”

“…Excessive stress of college students imposes negative effects on physical and emotional dimension. Preexisting studies about college students stress found out that the more stress they experienced the more physical complaints they had (Murphy, Denis, Ward, & Tartar, 2010), as well as reporting of negative subjective health status (Oh, 2009). In addition to physical symptoms, psychological symptoms (Choi, 2003;Jimenez, Navia-Osorio, & Diaz, 2010;Jin, Oh, & Kim, 2008), behavioral symptoms including alcohol consumption (Park, Armeli, & Tennen, 2004) and obsessive-compulsive behaviors (Lee, 2004) were also increased.…”

Salivary levels of SIgA and perceived stress among dental students

“…With regard to dental students, available reports point to no significant differences between salivary SIgA pre-and postexams 13 . A similar finding was reported among undergraduate students attending Biology and introduction to Psychology courses 23 .…”