Stressed out? Associations between perceived and physiological stress responses in adolescents: The TRAILS study

Abstract

Studies regarding the interrelation of perceived and physiological stress indices have shown diverging results. Using a population sample of adolescents (N=715, 50.9% girls, mean age 16.11 years, SD=0.59), we tested three hypotheses: (1) perceived responses during social stress covary with concurrent physiological stress responses; (2) high pretest levels of perceived stress predict large physiological responses; and (3) large physiological responses to social stress predict low posttest perceived stress levels. Perceived arousal, unpleasantness, and dominance were related to heart rate, respiratory sinus arrhythmia, and cortisol responses to a laboratory social stress test. Although effect sizes were small, the results suggest covariation of perceived stress and concurrent physiological stress responses in both the ANS and the HPA axis, as well as inverse associations between heart rate responsiveness and the subsequent appraisal of stress.

Early life adversities and adolescent antisocial behavior: The role of cardiac autonomic nervous system reactivity in the TRAILS study

“…Research on chronic stress showed that adults with greater chronic stress showed greater systolic blood pressure recovery and higher cortisol levels, with no differences between males and females (Chatkoff, Maier, & Klein, 2010). Similarly, adults who were highest on anticipatory stress, showed the greatest recovery in blood pressure and cortisol (Juster et al, 2012), though another study in adolescents showed no associations between anticipatory stress and ANS recovery (Oldehinkel et al, 2011).We aim to extend previous research by examiningwhether ANS recovery moderatesthe association between early life adversities and adolescent antisocial behavior similar to ANS task reactivity. Specifically, based on the earlier presented evolutionary perspective on stress and sex, we hypothesized that in boys, blunted ANS reactivity exacerbates the association between early life adversities and antisocial behavior at age 16, whereas in girls, heightened ANS reactivity exacerbates this association.…”

“…Task (GSST) (Bouma, Riese, Ormel, Verhulst, & Oldehinkel, 2009;Oldehinkel et al, 2011), a standardized protocol inspired by the Trier Social Stress Task (Kirschbaum, Pirke, & Hellhammer, 1993)for the induction of moderate performance-related social stress. Cardiovascular measureswere recorded during and after the GSST in four blocks: a 6 min speech task, a 3 min rest period (cq.…”

Glucocorticoid receptor gene methylation and HPA-axis regulation in adolescents. The TRAILS study

“…van Aken and J. Ormel, unpublished observations). Information about how the cortisol stress responses were related to other physiological responses and subjectively experienced stress can be found in Oldehinkel et al (2011).…”

Inter-relation between autonomic and HPA axis activity in children and adolescents

“…Specifically, higher morning and afternoon cortisol levels have been associated with low HF among adolescents in ambulatory settings (El-Sheikh, Arsiwalla, Hinnant, & Erath, 2011); although, no association has been reported as well (Oldehinkel et al, 2010). Additionally, elevated cortisol awakening response (AUC I ) has been associated with reduced LF and HF among young adults (Stadler, Evans, Hucklebridge, & Clow, 2011).…”