Enhancing effects of acute psychosocial stress on priming of non-declarative memory in healthy young adults

Social stress affects cognitive processes in general, and memory performance in particular. However, the direction of these effects has not been clearly established, as it depends on several factors. Our aim was to determine the impact of the hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis and sympathetic nervous system (SNS) reactivity to psychosocial stress on short-term non-declarative memory and declarative memory performance. Fifty-two young participants (18 men, 34 women) were subjected to the Trier Social Stress Task (TSST) and a control condition in a crossover design. Implicit memory was assessed by a priming test, and explicit memory was assessed by the Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test (RAVLT). The TSST provoked greater salivary cortisol and salivary alpha-amylase (sAA) responses than the control task. Men had a higher cortisol response to stress than women, but no sex differences were found for sAA release. Stress was associated with an enhancement of priming but did not affect declarative memory. Additionally, the enhancement on the priming test was higher in those whose sAA levels increased more in response to stress (r(48)?=?0.339, p?=?0.018). Our results confirm an effect of acute stress on priming, and that this effect is related to SNS activity. In addition, they suggest a different relationship between stress biomarkers and the different memory systems.     

Couple Identity Gaps,the Management of Conflict,and Biological and Self‐Reported Stress in Romantic Relationships

This study investigates the role of couple identity gaps in romantic partners' communicative and physiological management of stress during a conflict‐inducing discussion task. A total of 118 couples participated in a laboratory study in which they engaged in a conflict‐inducing discussion. Perceptions of intra‐ and extrarelationship couple identity gaps were associated with greater self‐reported anxiety and stress for men and greater negativity for women during the conversation. Extrarelationship identity gaps were also significantly associated with heightened cortisol and (salivary alpha‐amylase) sAA reactivity and delayed recovery, especially for women. The study extends the research on couple identity by introducing the concept of identity gaps into relational contexts to help explain why couples vary in their ability to manage stress.     

Endocrine and emotional response to exclusion among women and men; cortisol,salivary alpha amylase,and mood

Background and Objectives: Social exclusion is ubiquitous and painful. Evolutionary models indicate sex differences in coping with social stress. Recent empirical data suggest different sex patterns in hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal (HPA) and sympathetic–adrenal–medullary (SAM) reactivity. The present study sought to test this hypothesis.

Design: We examined differences in endocrine and emotional response to exclusion by using a virtual ball tossing paradigm (Cyberball). Saliva samples and mood ratings were collected to reflect levels before, and repeatedly following, exclusion.

Methods: The sample included 21 women and 23 men. Cortisol and salivary alpha amylase (sAA), biomarkers of the HPA and SAM systems, respectively, were used as indices of two arms of stress response.

Results: Following exclusion, all participants experienced mood worsening followed by mood improvement, with men reporting less distress than women. Women evinced decline in cortisol following the Cyberball task, whereas men’s cortisol levels showed a non-significant rise, and then decline, following exclusion.

Conclusions: Our results concur with previous findings showing SAM reactivity to be gender-neutral and HPA reactivity to be gender-divergent. Additional studies are needed to examine sex-specific response to social exclusion. Implications for individual differences in recovery from stress are discussed.     

Does Sex Matter? The Moderating Role of Sex on the Relationship Between Stress Biomarkers and Cognition

We examined the moderating role of sex on the relationship between salivary cortisol and alpha-amylase (sAA) and a diverse battery of cognitive outcomes including measures of working memory capacity, executive functioning, and prospective memory in addition to a more traditional memory measure (episodic memory). The final sample for the analyses included 144 participants (34 men and 110 women). Multiple regressions were performed to test the moderating role of sex on the stress biomarker-cognition relationship. For backward counting performance, higher cortisol levels were related to worse performance in men, but not women. Higher cortisol levels were also related to lower word recall, but only in men. Finally, men, but not women, had higher switching costs in the Trail Making task as levels of sAA rose. The results provide evidence that sex moderates the stress biomarker-cognition relationship in a variety of cognitive outcomes. Although not part of the primary analysis, sAA and cortisol interacted such that increased sAA levels were only negatively related to backward counting performance when cortisol levels were low. The findings are discussed primarily in terms of biological sex differences in the stress response.     

Cortisol and Children’s Adjustment: The Moderating Role of Sympathetic Nervous System Activity

We examined relations among cortisol, markers of sympathetic nervous system (SNS) activity (including salivary alpha-amylase and skin conductance level), and children's adjustment. We also tested the Bauer et al. (Journal of Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics, 23(2), 102-113, 2002) hypothesis that interactions between the SNS and cortisol would be associated with internalizing and externalizing problems. Saliva samples were obtained from 8- to 9-year-olds before and after a laboratory assessment battery, and were assayed for cortisol and alpha-amylase (sAA). Basal skin conductance level (SCL) was measured during resting conditions. Parents reported on child adjustment. Interactions between basal SNS and cortisol levels explained moderate amounts of unique variance in children's externalizing and internalizing problems. More specifically, higher basal cortisol levels were positively associated with higher internalizing and externalizing problems among children with higher SNS activity, as compared to children with lower SNS activity. Findings underscore the utility of including information about the coordination between hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) and SNS activity in biosocial models of atypical child development.     

Neuroendocrine stress responses to an oral academic examination: No strong influence of sex, repeated participation and personality traits

Public speaking tasks have been widely used as laboratory stressors in human research. Fewer studies have investigated similar real life situations like oral examinations and results have been inconsistent. The present study investigated salivary cortisol (as a marker of hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) activity) and salivary alpha-amylase (sAA as a marker of sympathetic nervous system (SNS) activity) within the context of a university examination. Subjects were 40 undergraduate students who participated in an oral examination. Of these, 20 also participated in a second examination within a few weeks. Cortisol and sAA were measured immediately before and after the examination and on a control day. Additionally, subjects filled out personality questionnaires. A strong anticipatory increase in salivary cortisol and sAA as well as more modest further increases between the pre- and post-measurements were detected during the examination. Sex or oral contraceptive use had no influence on either measure. In addition, no significant differences between the first and second examination were observed. The findings indicate the neuroendocrine stress responses to laboratory stressors and to heralded real life stressors as well as the modulatory variables involved differ from each other.     

ROMANTIC PARTNERS' COPING STRATEGIES AND PATTERNS OF CORTISOL REACTIVITY AND RECOVERY IN RESPONSE TO RELATIONSHIP CONFLICT

Stress in close relationships can have significant negative consequences for mental health, physical health, and long-term relationship functioning. Dysregulated physiological responses to stress are potential pathways through which relationship stress may lead to these kinds of outcomes, and the ways in which individuals attempt to cope with relationship stress are likely to impact their physiological responses. However, our understanding of the specific coping strategies that predict physiological reactivity and recovery in these contexts is rather limited. This study explored relations between young adult college students' self-reported methods of coping with stress in their romantic relationships and their physiological reactivity to and recovery from negotiating conflict with their romantic partners. Partners' coping styles were also examined as predictors of physiological stress responses. One hundred and ninety opposite-sex couples (N = 380; modal length of relationship = 1-2 years) participated in an experimental conflict discussion task. Physiological stress reactivity to the task was assessed using salivary cortisol, a primary hormonal product of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenocortical (HPA) axis. Growth modeling of the cortisol levels before, during, and after the conflict task indicated that men who typically coped with relationship stress by seeking social support showed greater physiological reactivity to the conflict task. Partners' need for social support predicted stronger stress responses for both men and women, as well. While seeking social support is generally thought to be an adaptive coping strategy for couples, the results suggest that within the context of conflict negotiation in which receiving and providing support may be more difficult, seeking support from a partner is associated with greater phyisological stress.     

Taking stress response out of the box: stability, discontinuity, and temperament effects on HPA and SNS across social stressors in mother-infant dyads

This study investigated continuity and stability of hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) and sympathetic nervous system (SNS) response measures in mother-infant dyads across 2 different types of social stress sessions. Synchrony of response trajectories across systems (SNS-HPA coordination) and partners (mother-infant attunement) was addressed, as were associations with infant temperament. Primiparous mothers and their 18-month-old infants (n = 86 dyads) completed an attachment stressor--Strange Situation (Ainsworth, Blehar, Waters, & Wall, 1978)--at Session 1 and challenge stressors--cleanup task and emotion task battery--at Session 2. Mother and infant saliva samples collected to index pre-stress, stress, and post-stress response during each session were assayed for cortisol (HPA marker) and salivary alpha-amylase (sAA; SNS marker). Multilevel modeling of cortisol/sAA trajectories across sessions revealed rank-order stability in mother/infant stress measures but discontinuity in absolute levels; cortisol trajectories were higher during attachment stress, and sAA trajectories were higher during challenge stress. Varying degrees of mother-infant attunement were found across sessions/systems. Infant surgency predicted higher stress measures, and negative affect and effortful control predicted lower stress measures, though associations depended on session/system. Findings are discussed in terms of advancing a multisystemic, contextual definition of developing stress responsiveness.     

With a little help from my cross-group friend: reducing anxiety in intergroup contexts through cross-group friendship

The authors induced cross-group friendship between Latinos/as and Whites to test the effects of cross-group friendship on anxiety in intergroup contexts. Cross-group friendship led to decreases in cortisol reactivity (a hormonal correlate of stress; W. R. Lovallo & T. L. Thomas, 2000) over 3 friendship meetings among participants high in race-based rejection sensitivity (R. Mendoza-Denton, G. Downey, V. J. Purdie, A. Davis, & J. Pietrzak, 2002) and participants high in implicit prejudice (A. G. Greenwald, B. A. Nosek, & M. R. Banaji, 2003). Cross-group partners' prior intergroup contact moderated the relationship between race-based rejection sensitivity and cortisol reactivity. Following the manipulation, participants kept daily diaries of their experiences in an ethnically diverse setting. Implicitly prejudiced participants initiated more intergroup interactions during the diary period after making a cross-group friend. Participants who had made a cross-group friend reported lower anxious mood during the diary period, which compensated for greater anxious mood among participants high in race-based rejection sensitivity. These findings provide experimental evidence that cross-group friendship is beneficial for people who are likely to experience anxiety in intergroup contexts.     

Seductive father-daughter relationships and sex roles in women

The present study evaluated the relationship of three variables reportedly characteristic of families in which father-daughter incest occurs to women's sex-role functioning and attitudes toward heterosexual interactions. The results showed that a sexualized father-daughter relationship was correlated with negative male traits (e.g., arrogance), low levels of positive female traits (emotionality), and negative attitudes toward male sexuality and female competitiveness. Discord in the parental marriage was associated with positive female traits and negatively with attributions of danger to male sexuality. Low levels of paternal encouragement of autonomy correlated with negative female traits (spinelessness, subordination to others) and low positive masculine traits (competitiveness). The implications of the findings to our understanding of incest are discussed.     

Subjective, Autonomic, and Endocrine Reactivity during Social Stress in Children with Social Phobia

Reports of exaggerated anxiety and physiological hyperreactivity to social-evaluative situations are characteristic of childhood social phobia (SP). However, laboratory research on subjective, autonomic and endocrine functioning in childhood SP is scarce, inconsistent and limited by small sample sizes, limited breadth of measurements, and the use of non-standardized stressor tasks. We exposed 8–12-year-old children with DSM-IV SP (n = 41) and matched healthy control children (HC; n = 40) to the Trier Social Stress Test for Children (TSST-C) while measuring subjective anxiety, heart rate (HR) and salivary alpha-amylase (sAA) as well as salivary cortisol. The SP children showed heightened reactivity to the TSST-C on subjective anxiety compared to the HC children but not a heightened reactivity in HR, sAA or cortisol. However, the SP children showed chronically elevated HR levels throughout the whole laboratory session. Whereas subjective anxiety seems to respond specifically to social-evaluative stress in childhood SP, HR levels may be chronically elevated suggesting a more generalized autonomic hyperreactivity.     

Wives' and Husbands' Cortisol Reactivity to Proximal and Distal Dimensions of Couple Conflict

Poor marital quality has been linked repeatedly to spouses' health problems, with alterations to physiological stress response systems, such as the hypothalamic‐pituitary‐adrenocortical (HPA) axis, as one putative mechanism. This study assessed wives' and husbands' HPA axis (i.e., cortisol) reactivity to marital criticism during laboratory‐based conflict discussions, in the context of marital aggression experienced during the previous year. Ninety‐five couples provided one saliva sample prior to—and three samples following—a triadic family conflict discussion involving their teenage child. Marital criticism during the conflict discussion was related to heightened HPA reactivity for husbands only. For wives, an interaction emerged between criticism during the conflict and previous‐year marital aggression: only those wives who had experienced high levels of marital aggression demonstrated a positive association between criticism and cortisol output. Husbands thus appeared to be more physiologically reactive to the in‐the‐moment critical behaviors, whereas wives' responses to proximal conflict were related to previous and perhaps more chronic experiences of marital aggression. These findings shed light on ways in which within‐couple processes during family conflicts involving children contribute to individual physiological functioning, enhancing our understanding of the role of family relationships in physical health outcomes.     

Dating couples' attachment styles and patterns of cortisol reactivity and recovery in response to a relationship conflict

This study investigated theoretically predicted links between attachment style and a physiological indicator of stress, salivary cortisol levels, in 124 heterosexual dating couples. Cortisol was assessed at 7 points before and after an experimental conflict negotiation task, creating a trajectory of stress reactivity and recovery for each participant. Growth modeling of cortisol data tested hypotheses that (a) insecurely attached individuals show patterns of greater physiological stress reactions to interpersonal conflict than do securely attached individuals and (b) people with insecurely attached partners show patterns of greater stress in reaction to relationship conflict than those with securely attached partners. Hypothesis 1 was supported, but men and women differed in the type of insecure attachment that predicted stress trajectories. Hypothesis 2 was supported for men, but not for women. The discussion emphasizes the role of gender role norms and partner characteristics in understanding connections between adult attachment and patterns of cortisol responses to interpersonal stress.     

Better not to deal with two tasks at the same time when stressed? Acute psychosocial stress reduces task shielding in dual-task performance

A major control demand in successful dual-task performance is the task-specific separation of task-goal representations and of the related stimulus-response translation processes. In the present study, we investigated how these cognitive control processes of task shielding are affected by acute psychosocial stress. Fifty-six healthy participants were exposed to either an acute psychosocial stressor (the Trier Social Stress Test) or a standardized control situation prior to a dual task. Task shielding was assessed by analyzing the interference of Task 2 processing on prioritized Task 1 performance. Following successful stress induction, as indicated by increases in salivary α-amylase (sAA) and cortisol that reflect increases in sympathetic nervous system and hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis activity, respectively, stressed individuals displayed reduced task shielding relative to controls. This result was further substantiated by a correlation between treatment-related increase in cortisol, but not sAA, and between-task interference, suggesting a potential role of the HPA stress response for the development of the observed effects. As an additional finding, when the volunteers were categorized with regard to their action-state orientation, their orientation did not interact with stress but did reveal generally increased between-task interference, and thus inferior task shielding, for state-oriented as compared to action-oriented individuals.     

Conflict Intensity,Family History,and Physiological Stress Reactions to Conflict Within Romantic Relationships

This study drew upon the physiological model of stress and desensitization processes to deduce hypotheses linking the intensity of conflict communication and exposure to familial verbal aggression in childhood to experiences of conflict within romantic relationships. One hundred college‐aged students (50 dating couples) participated in a dyadic interaction in which partners discussed a source of conflict in their romantic relationship. Participants reported childhood exposure to familial verbal aggression, third‐party observers rated the intensity of conflict communication, and salivary cortisol indexed physiological stress responses to the conflict interactions. As predicted, results showed a positive association between conflict intensity and cortisol reactivity, and this association was attenuated for individuals who reported higher, rather than lower, levels of childhood exposure to familial verbal aggression.     

The Sexual Self-Perceptions of Young Women Experiencing Abuse in Dating Relationships

Though information about one's sexuality may be inferred from sexual interactions themselves, a sexual sense of self may also be derived from the quality of the intimate relationship more generally. In this study, we examined the sexual self-perceptions of young women in dating relationships (N=108) as a function of whether these relationships were characterized by abuse. Negative sexual self-perceptions were found to be more evident among women who were experiencing physical/psychological abuse or sexual coercion in their current relationships than among women who were not, even after controlling for self-esteem and depressive symptoms. However, positive sexual self-perceptions were unaffected by abuse, and hence may provide young women a basis for establishing healthier relationships in future.     

Peer Victimization and Aggression: Moderation by Individual Differences in Salivary Cortiol and Alpha-Amylase

This research examined whether variations in salivary measures of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis (cortisol) and autonomic nervous system (alpha amylase [sAA]) contribute to individual differences in the association between peer victimization and aggression. Children (N = 132; M age = 9.46 years, SD = 0.33) completed a measure of peer victimization, teachers rated children’s aggression, and children’s saliva was collected prior to, and following, participation in a laboratory-based peer-oriented social challenge task. Children rated their level of frustration at the end of the task. Results revealed that victimization interacted with cortisol and sAA measured in anticipation of the task to predict aggression; the victimization × cortisol contribution to aggression was partly mediated by children’s self-reported frustration level. Victimization also was associated with heightened frustration in girls with high task-related sAA reactivity. Task-related sAA reactivity was associated with heightened aggression, but only for girls. These findings suggest that associations between peer victimization and aggression are moderated by variation in the activity of the major components of the psychobiology of stress; results are discussed in relation to theoretical models of individual differences in biological sensitivity to context.     

PTSD,comorbid depression,and the cortisol waking response in victims of intimate partner violence: preliminary evidence

Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) are two highly comorbid and debilitating disorders experienced by more than half of intimate partner violence victims (IPV). Hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal (HPA) abnormalities are common in both disorders, though the direction of abnormalities often differs. The present study examined the relationship between comorbid PTSD and MDD, and the (salivary) cortisol waking response in 104 recently abused IPV victims. Waking cortisol levels, area under the waking curve with respect to ground (AUCg), and AUC with respect to increase (AUCi) were examined to determine the relation of HPA dynamics to comorbidity for basal versus more dynamic measures. Prior to accounting for comorbidity, women with PTSD or MDD showed significantly greater AUCi than women without the respective disorder. Accounting for comorbidity, PTSD only did not differ from other groups, while MDD only and PTSD + MDD showed greater AUCi than women with neither disorder. Results were nonsignificant for waking cortisol levels or AUCg. Results suggest that MDD drives elevated waking cortisol response, but not basal cortisol activity in recently abused IPV victims. Results demonstrate the importance of examining comorbid diagnoses and HPA activity from a dynamic perspective. Therapeutic implications are discussed.     

Anxiety and chronic couple relationship stress moderate adrenocortical response to couple interaction in expectant parents

The study examines whether anxiety or chronic relationship stress alter the way that couple conflict affects cortisol levels for women and men during the transition to parenthood. Saliva samples, assayed for cortisol, were collected before and after couple interaction from 128 heterosexual couples expecting their first child. Confirming prior research, expectant mothers had higher cortisol levels than their spouses, and gestational age was linked to women's cortisol level. Negativity during couple interaction was associated with greater cortisol reactivity for men, but not women. Tests of moderation indicated little relation between negativity and cortisol recovery for individuals with a low level of anxiety or little history of chronic arguing with the partner. However, among individuals with elevated levels of either of these two factors, negativity was linked to less cortisol recovery for men, but more cortisol recovery for women. Consistent results were also found for the relation between low warmth in the couple interaction and both reactivity and recovery for men and women high in anxiety. Future research should examine whether pregnancy is responsible for these different gender patterns, or whether the inhibition of negativity is stressful for women with high levels of risk.     

Early Exposure to Parental Depression and Parenting: Associations with Young Offspring’s Stress Physiology and Oppositional Behavior

Hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis reactivity to stress is posited to play a role in the intergenerational transmission of risk for psychopathology and other negative outcomes in the offspring of depressed parents. We tested the hypothesis that the joint, interactive effects of exposure to parental depression during early childhood and parental hostility impact the development of young children’s stress physiology and early emerging behavior problems. A sample of 165 preschool-age children (81 boys, 84 girls), of whom 103 had a parent with a history of depression, was exposed to a stress-inducing laboratory task, and five salivary cortisol samples were obtained. Parents completed clinical interviews and an observational parent–child interaction task. We found that the offspring exposed to maternal depression during early childhood and whose parents displayed hostile parenting behaviors during an observational task evidenced high and increasing cortisol levels in response to a laboratory stressor. In addition, the total amount of exposure to maternal depression over the child’s life exerted a dose–response effect on the positive relation between parental hostility and child observed oppositional behavior. This study underscores the importance of the early rearing environment on young children’s stress physiology and early emerging behavior problems.