{"title":"Impact of social reward on stress circuit function and regulation: Path differences between value affirmation and emotional support","authors":"","doi":"10.1016/j.ijchp.2024.100499","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<div><h3>Background</h3><p>As two typical types of social rewards, both value affirmation and emotional support could alleviate acute stress response, but it is not clear whether they can impact stress circuit function and regulation through different neural pathways.</p></div><div><h3>Method</h3><p>Sixty-two participants were randomly assigned to the value affirmation, emotional support, and non-reward conditions, then administered an adapted version of the ScanSTRESS paradigm. Participants’ subjective reports of uncontrollability and social evaluative threat were measured to explore the mitigation of stress by social rewards at the behavioral level. Meanwhile, their acute salivary cortisol response to stress was compared among different social reward conditions. Furthermore, we computed linear contrasts for performance (vs relaxation) and reward (vs non-reward) and used psychophysiological interaction (PPI) analysis to explore the impact of social reward on stress circuit function and regulation.</p></div><div><h3>Results</h3><p>Both value affirmation and emotional support conditions reduced subjective reports of uncontrollability and social evaluation threat, but not cortisol response to stress. Furthermore, value affirmation reduced uncontrollability by enhancing putamen activation, whereas emotional support reduced social evaluation threat by enhancing putamen activation. More importantly, during stress, value affirmation enhanced the functional connectivity of the putamen-hippocampus and putamen-angular gyrus (AG), whereas emotional support enhanced the functional connectivity of the putamen-ventrolateral prefrontal cortex (vlPFC) and putamen-temporal pole mid, compared to the non-reward condition.</p></div><div><h3>Conclusion</h3><p>Value affirmation and emotional support alleviated acute stress response in different neural pathways. These findings suggested a precise categorization of social reward in intervention of a range of adverse psychological and physiological responses caused by stress.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":47673,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Clinical and Health Psychology","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":5.3000,"publicationDate":"2024-07-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1697260024000644/pdfft?md5=6b3637344e2ee055db94b72e0c84bde6&pid=1-s2.0-S1697260024000644-main.pdf","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"International Journal of Clinical and Health Psychology","FirstCategoryId":"102","ListUrlMain":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1697260024000644","RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"PSYCHOLOGY, CLINICAL","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Background
As two typical types of social rewards, both value affirmation and emotional support could alleviate acute stress response, but it is not clear whether they can impact stress circuit function and regulation through different neural pathways.
Method
Sixty-two participants were randomly assigned to the value affirmation, emotional support, and non-reward conditions, then administered an adapted version of the ScanSTRESS paradigm. Participants’ subjective reports of uncontrollability and social evaluative threat were measured to explore the mitigation of stress by social rewards at the behavioral level. Meanwhile, their acute salivary cortisol response to stress was compared among different social reward conditions. Furthermore, we computed linear contrasts for performance (vs relaxation) and reward (vs non-reward) and used psychophysiological interaction (PPI) analysis to explore the impact of social reward on stress circuit function and regulation.
Results
Both value affirmation and emotional support conditions reduced subjective reports of uncontrollability and social evaluation threat, but not cortisol response to stress. Furthermore, value affirmation reduced uncontrollability by enhancing putamen activation, whereas emotional support reduced social evaluation threat by enhancing putamen activation. More importantly, during stress, value affirmation enhanced the functional connectivity of the putamen-hippocampus and putamen-angular gyrus (AG), whereas emotional support enhanced the functional connectivity of the putamen-ventrolateral prefrontal cortex (vlPFC) and putamen-temporal pole mid, compared to the non-reward condition.
Conclusion
Value affirmation and emotional support alleviated acute stress response in different neural pathways. These findings suggested a precise categorization of social reward in intervention of a range of adverse psychological and physiological responses caused by stress.
期刊介绍:
The International Journal of Clinical and Health Psychology is dedicated to publishing manuscripts with a strong emphasis on both basic and applied research, encompassing experimental, clinical, and theoretical contributions that advance the fields of Clinical and Health Psychology. With a focus on four core domains—clinical psychology and psychotherapy, psychopathology, health psychology, and clinical neurosciences—the IJCHP seeks to provide a comprehensive platform for scholarly discourse and innovation. The journal accepts Original Articles (empirical studies) and Review Articles. Manuscripts submitted to IJCHP should be original and not previously published or under consideration elsewhere. All signing authors must unanimously agree on the submitted version of the manuscript. By submitting their work, authors agree to transfer their copyrights to the Journal for the duration of the editorial process.