Gaab
Fakultäten » Philosophische Fakultät » Psychologisches Institut » Klinische Psychologie und Psychotherapie » Prof. Dr. Ulrike Ehlert » Gaab
Completed research project
| Title / Titel | Association between general stress susceptability and cortisol responses to acute psychosocial stress | ||||||
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| Abstract (PDF, 14 KB) | |||||||
| Summary / Zusammenfassung | Although a number of studies have investigated into the relationship between personality traits and cortisol stress responses, no consistent results have been achieved. This study evaluated the influence of general stress susceptibility on the hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) responses to acute psychosocial stress among healthy young subjects. Forty-one healthy non-smoking male volunteers without acute or chronic medical or psychiatric disorder on self-report were exposed to a task consisting of public speaking and mental arithmetic in front of an audience. Psychological assessment included the Questionnaire for Competence and Control (FKK), the Primary Appraisal Secondary Appraisal Scale (PASA) and the Measure for Assessment of General Stress Susceptibility (MESA). Eight salivary cortisol samples were obtained at 10-min intervals after a standardized psychosocial stressor. Regression analyses indicated that stress susceptibility accounted for a significant proportion of variance (26%) in the areas under the response curve (AUC) of the salivary free cortisol response. The sample was dichotomized into groups low vs. high in stress susceptibility. Subjects high in stress susceptibility showed a significantly higher endocrine response over time (F (2.70/80.00) = 4.17; P = 0.01; effect size f2 = 0.28). Inclusion of primary cognitive appraisal of the situation eliminated the observed differences. These results provide preliminary evidence for a link between general stress susceptibility and stress-induced neuroendocrine activation. They further indicate that specific cognitive appraisal processes function as the link between certain personality characteristics and neuroendocrine stress responses. | ||||||
| Publications / Publikationen | Hammerfald, K., Schwendimann, B., Ehlert, U., Gaab, J. (2003). Association between general stress susceptability and cortisol responses to acute psychosocial stress. American Psychosomatic Medicine, 65/1, A62. | ||||||
| Keywords / Suchbegriffe | Stress susceptability, stress reactivity, psychoneuroendocrinology | ||||||
| Project leadership and contacts / Projektleitung und Kontakte |
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| Funding source(s) / Unterstützt durch |
Others |
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| Duration of Project / Projektdauer | Jun 2002 to Jan 2003 |