Physiological stress reactivity and recovery: Conceptual siblings separated at birth?

Linden, Wolfgang; Earle, Tracey Lynn; Gerin, William; Christenfeld, Nicholas

doi:10.1016/s0022-3999(96)00240-1

Cited by 358 publications

(342 citation statements)

References 40 publications

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“…A slow return to baseline after an emotional experience may undermine health through chronic arousal and is indeed prominent in mental disorders (cf. [47][48][49]. Based on these systematic reviews, and on our specific prediction of differential categories of short-lasting (within a day) and longlasting (across one or more nights) distress, we generated questions to cover this range.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Slow dissolving of emotional distress contributes to hyperarousal

Wassing

Benjamins

Dekker

et al. 2016

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

145

121

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The mechanisms underlying hyperarousal, the key symptom of insomnia, have remained elusive, hampering cause-targeted treatment. Recently, restless rapid-eye-movement (REM) sleep emerged as a robust signature of sleep in insomnia. Given the role of REM sleep in emotion regulation, we hypothesized that restless REM sleep could interfere with the overnight resolution of emotional distress, thus contributing to accumulation of arousal. Participants (n = 1,199) completed questionnaires on insomnia severity, hyperarousal, self-conscious emotional distress, and thought-like nocturnal mentation that was validated to be a specific proxy for restless REM sleep (selective fragmentation: R = 0.57, P < 0.001; eye movement density: R = 0.46, P < 0.01) in 32 polysomnographically assessed participants. The experience of distress lasting overnight increased with insomnia severity (β = 0.29, P < 10 −23 ), whereas shortlasting distress did not (β = −0.02, P = 0.41). Insomnia severity was associated with hyperarousal (β = 0.47, P < 10 −63 ) and with the thought-like nocturnal mentation that is specifically associated with restless REM sleep (β = 0.31, P < 10 −26 ). Structural equation modeling showed that 62.4% of the association between these key characteristics of insomnia was mediated specifically by reduced overnight resolution of emotional distress. The model outperformed all alternative mediation pathways. The findings suggest that restless REM sleep reflects a process that interferes with the overnight resolution of distress. Its accumulation may promote the development of chronic hyperarousal, giving clinical relevance to the role of REM sleep in emotion regulation in insomnia, depression, and posttraumatic stress disorder.B oth insomnia and affective disorders are among the most prevalent and burdening health concerns facing our society. Targeted prevention of affective disorders in people at risk, as well as identification of mechanisms of conversion, could be the most viable approach to mitigate their increasing global burden (1). For the prevention of new-onset or recurrent affective disorder, insomnia may be the major risk factor that can be targeted best (2, 3). About 13% of people with insomnia develop major depression disorder (MDD) within a year (2). Moreover, remission rates after cognitive behavioral therapy are 21% lower for depressed patients with abnormal sleep compared with patients with relatively intact sleep (4). It therefore appears highly relevant to understand the mechanisms involved in the role of insomnia in disturbed emotion regulation (2). The present study addresses the roles of restless rapid-eye-movement (REM) sleep (5) and chronic physiological arousal (6), which are characteristic of both insomnia and MDD.Although sleep contributes to the more robust consolidation of emotional memories, relative to neutral memories (7, 8), their later recall is not associated with anywhere near the same magnitude of subjective emotional distress, autonomic arousal, and amygdala activation (7, 9-11). REM sleep p...

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Slow dissolving of emotional distress contributes to hyperarousal

Wassing

Benjamins

Dekker

et al. 2016

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

145

121

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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“…25 The stress test recovery time has been investigated poorly. In the present study, postrecovery changes of BP during an SI were significantly lower in subjects who developed SH.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Blood pressure reactivity to mental stress task as a determinant of sustained hypertension after 5 years of follow-up

et al. 2003

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Previous studies have reported an increased risk of developing sustained hypertension (SH) in borderline or mildly hypertensive subjects showing an exaggerated response of blood pressure (BP) to mental stress. The aim of this study was to assess if the response of BP to mental stress tasks is an independent predictor of SH. A total of 89 patients with grade 1 hypertension, aged 18-64 years, 62% males, were included. The mean of follow-up was 5.3 years (s.d. 2.1 years). SH was defined as the development of grades 2-3 hypertension (Systolic BPX160 mmHg or diastolic BPX100 mmHg) or to be in antihypertensive treatment after follow-up. Two mental stress tasks: mental arithmetic stress task and a stressful interview (SI) were applied at entry. The subjects were classified as hyper-reactors when BP increase was greater than 35 mmHg for systolic BP or greater than 21 mmHg for diastolic BP, according to the results obtained previously in a normotensive control group. In the univariate analysis, the factors associated with the development of SH were age (P ¼ 0.0007), office diastolic BP (P ¼ 0.014) and hyper-reactivity of BP during a stressful interview (P ¼ 0.003). In the Cox regression model, after adjusting for gender, age, and office BP, the hyper-reactivity of BP during SI was an independent predictor of development of SH. In conclusion, the response of BP to mental stress tasks is useful in predicting SH in young and middle-aged subjects with grade 1 hypertension.

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“…We propose a new method to assess recovery by measuring the time until the person has returned to his or her baseline level. Thus, we argue that recovery is not merely an automatic "return to baseline" but is a process of its own that can be subject to affect regulation and can predict health outcomes (Davidson, 1998;Larsen & Christenfeld, 2011;Linden, Earle, Gerin, & Christenfeld, 1997;Nishime et al, 2000). In this article, we first review the available evidence on age differences in reactivity and recovery regarding both subjective affective experiences and heart rate-two central affect components that have been studied most often and that are central for psychological and physiological health (Charles & Carstensen, 2010;Cohen et al, 2000;Steptoe, Dockray, & Wardle, 2009).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Affect dynamics across the lifespan: With age, heart rate reacts less strongly, but recovers more slowly from unpleasant emotional situations.

Wrzus¹,

Müller²,

Wagner³

et al. 2014

Psychology and Aging

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We propose that a comprehensive understanding of age differences in affective responses to emotional situations requires the distinction of 2 components of affect dynamics: reactivity, the deviation from a person's baseline, and recovery, the return to this baseline. The present study demonstrates the utility of this approach with a focus on age differences in responses of negative affect and heart rate to an unpleasant emotional situation in 92 participants aged 14 to 83. The emotional situation was elicited with a social-cognitive stress task. Participants' negative affect and heart rate were measured throughout the task. Results showed that heart rate reactivity decreased, but heart rate recovery time increased, with age. In contrast, no significant age differences were observed in either reactivity or recovery for negative affect. These findings confirm that reactivity to, and recovery from, unpleasant emotional situations are distinct components of affect dynamics. They underscore the multidirectional nature of age differences in affective processes.

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Physiological stress reactivity and recovery: Conceptual siblings separated at birth?

Cited by 358 publications

References 40 publications

Slow dissolving of emotional distress contributes to hyperarousal

Slow dissolving of emotional distress contributes to hyperarousal

Blood pressure reactivity to mental stress task as a determinant of sustained hypertension after 5 years of follow-up

Affect dynamics across the lifespan: With age, heart rate reacts less strongly, but recovers more slowly from unpleasant emotional situations.

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