Stress and health : journal of the International Society for the Investigation of Stress最新文献

The purpose of this randomized control trial was to observe the effect of nature-based physical activity in achieving post traumatic growth and to estimate the combined effect of nature and physical activity on the psychophysiological outcomes. A 3-month therapy was provided to participants meeting eligibility criteria to receive the walk-in nature (experimental group) or sit-in nature (control group) in the 1:1 ratio. At baseline and 3-month follow-up, participants were assessed with Trauma Symptom Checklist 40, Traumatic Stress Scale, Post-Traumatic Growth Inventory (PTGI), Cortisol, C-Reactive Protein (CRP), Interleukin-6 (IL-6), Brain-Derived Neurotropic Factor (BDNF) and heart rate variability. There was a significant effect of nature-based physical activity on traumatic stress and post-traumatic growth in comparison with the sit-in control. A significant post-interventional difference was observed in the mean PTGI score [F = 5.412, p = 0.022] between the experimental and control groups after 3 months of intervention. All the biochemical estimates, including CRP, BDNF, IL-6, and cortisol levels, were significantly altered in both post-intervention study groups (p < 0.01). Taken together, these results show that nature-based physical activity significantly improves psychophysiological outcomes induced as a result of post-traumatic growth and also reduces traumatic stress.

Drawing on the tenets of family stress theory, the aim of this study is to examine parents' perceived stress, symptoms of anxiety, depression, and associated risk- and protective factors across demographic subgroups during in the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. Norwegian parents (N = 2868; 79.5% mothers) with >1 child under 18 years of age completed an online survey two weeks after the implementation of government-initiated distancing measures. The survey includes measures of COVID-related risk factors (parental stress, burnout, depression, anxiety, anger of parents towards children, difficulty working from home, and positive beliefs about worry) and protective factors (self-efficacy and social support). Mothers, parents living with more than one child, and parents with a psychiatric diagnosis reported greater levels of parental stress, more burnout, and more anger towards their children, as well as less social support. Almost 25% of the parents reported anxiety and depression that are clinically significant. Parents who followed distancing measures reported significantly higher distress. Anger of parents towards children explains 41% of the variation in parental stress. These findings indicate that parents have experienced symptoms of deteriorated mental health due to the COVID- 19 pandemic, including parental stress, anxiety, and depression. The study presents practical implications for meso- and macro-level policymaking and offers support to further the potential aims of public health and clinical interventions. Future studies to monitor long-term aversive mental health outcomes among parents are warranted.

People focussed on prevention (vs. promotion) are motivated by safety and are less inclined to take risks. We tested if having a prevention (vs. promotion) focus before the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak predicted threat perceptions and health outcomes throughout the pandemic. Participants (N = 161) took part in a longitudinal study. Measures were assessed before the pandemic was declared (on November 2019, T1) and after a global pandemic was declared (on June 2020, T2). Participants who were more focussed on prevention prior to the onset of the pandemic (at T1) perceived greater risk and were more worried about contracting COVID-19, and engaged in more preventive behaviours during the pandemic (at T2). They also reported less anxiety and felt healthier later on (at T2). Exploratory analyses revealed that enacting preventive behaviours helped people cope with pandemic-related anxiety. Being motivated by security and enacting preventive behaviours seems to have helped people reduce anxiety over risk even during the pandemic.

During the outbreak of COVID-19, many travellers had to quarantine upon arrival to their destination, often at designated hotels and usually for two weeks. Quarantine, as any type of isolation, is often emotionally challenging. This study applies the transactional theory of stress to explore guests' experiences during the hotel quarantine, the cognitive appraisals of their experiences and affective responses, and the coping strategies they deploy to address adverse mental effects of the quarantine. Data from in-depth interviews with quarantine hotel guests demonstrates that guests experience a rollercoaster of moods and emotions during their stay, moving from uncertainty and anxiety to isolation and boredom to despair and depression, and finally to relief and optimism. These hotel guests used a range of coping styles to alter the perceived space and time in quarantine, address social isolation as well as negative emotions and moods. These findings have important implications for tourism, hospitality, and health professionals in managing travel, accommodation, and quarantine arrangements during a crisis.

Studies show that a woman's dissatisfaction with her birth experience may affect her well-being. This study aimed to examine: (1) the birth satisfaction in Croatian women and compare it with UK normative data; (2) the association of different dimensions of birth satisfaction with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and depressive symptoms. In a cross-sectional online study, 603 postnatal Croatian women completed the Birth Satisfaction Scale-Revised (subscales: Stress experienced during labour (SL), Women's personal attributes (WA), and Quality of care provision (QC)); City Birth Trauma Scale (subscales: Birth-related symptoms and General symptoms); and Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale. Subscale and total scale scores were calculated. Path analysis tested the model of three aspects of birth satisfaction effect on PTSD dimensions and depressive symptoms. The average birth satisfaction score was significantly lower compared to the UK data on the total scale and all three subscale scores. Path analysis revealed that all three dimensions of birth satisfaction (SL, WA, and QC) had an effect on Birth-related symptoms. However, only Women's personal attributes (i.e., feeling anxiety or being in control during childbirth) had an effect on General symptoms and depressive symptoms, as well. Different aspects of birth satisfaction are important for maternal mental health following childbirth.

Psychological suzhi has increasingly been recognized to buffer chronic stress and improve mental health. However, few studies have examined the role of psychological suzhi in the response to acute stress. The current study aimed to investigate whether psychological suzhi can buffer state anxiety and heart rate responses to acute stress in adolescents. Healthy male adolescents (N = 63) were classified into high (N = 30) or low (N = 33) psychological suzhi groups based on the Chinese norm of adolescent psychological suzhi scale-simplified version. They completed both the modified Trier Social Stress Test for Groups and a specific control condition, with heart rate and state anxiety assessed. Data were analysed with mixed-design repeated measures analysis of variance. The results showed that the modified Trier Social Stress Test for Groups condition effectively induced an increase in state anxiety and heart rate. Furthermore, individuals with higher levels of psychological suzhi showed lower state anxiety and heart rate stress responses. The present study indicated that psychological suzhi is an important internal resource against acute stress, which may inform interventions for male adolescents exposed to acute stress.

Actual resource replenishment, a defining part of the stress-recovery process, has hardly been studied. We address this gap in the literature within the context of work breaks to determine which resources are replenished relative to a pre-stressor baseline. Guided by conservation of resources theory and the effort-recovery model, we explored how two different break activities promoted recovery by looking at their effects on recovery experiences (relaxation, psychological detachment), psychological resources (self-regulatory capacity, energy), and an indicator of insufficient recovery (fatigue). In a sample of 160 college students, we experimentally induced a state of resource depletion via mentally demanding tasks and randomly assigned people to a physical (stationary bike) or relaxation (progressive muscle relaxation) recovery break activity. The relaxation activity resulted in higher psychological detachment and relaxation experiences, the physical activity resulted in higher energy levels, and there were no differences between the break activities for self-regulatory capacity or fatigue. Overall, post-break resource levels improved following recovery break activities. Energy levels returned to baseline (replenishment); self-regulatory capacity and fatigue improved beyond baseline (accumulation). These resource replenishment and accumulation findings further the development of recovery theory and help employees select a work break activity that better meets their resource-related needs.

This study builds and tests a model that explains entrepreneurs' emotional responses to events in their work lives while specifying the role of entrepreneurs' personality in moderating such responses. Drawing on the cognitive appraisal theory, we hypothesise that daily entrepreneurial stressors (workload and financial) exert negative influences on two discrete emotions (fear and pride) and that entrepreneurs' neuroticism and dispositional optimism can moderate the proposed relationships. We examined daily diary data of 61 entrepreneurs over a two-week period and found multilevel evidence of individual differences in entrepreneurs' emotional responses to these stressors at both the between- and within-person levels of analysis. We also found that neuroticism and optimism partially account for the examined relationships across both levels. This study contributes to the literature on stress-related emotional experiences in an entrepreneurial context by taking into account the type of stressor and the temporal framework across levels of analysis.

The widespread prevalence of cardiovascular disease underscores the continuing need for identifying modifiable risk factors and novel targets for therapeutic intervention. Hair cortisol concentration (HCC) is a promising biomarker for evaluating the contribution of chronic stress to the pathogenesis and prognosis of coronary arterial disease (CAD). In this cross-sectional study of 24 participants, we assessed the risk of CAD associated with HCC and with perceived chronic stress (Perceived Stress Score), controlling for the established risk factors of age, diabetes, hypertension, dyslipidemia, and obesity. In fully adjusted Poisson regression models, we additionally evaluated CAD risk with the simultaneous inclusion of psychological and physiologic resilience measures (CD-RISC, DHEA-S). Our results show that HCC, but not PSS, is significantly associated with CAD (incident rate ratio 0.99, confidence interval 0.98-1.00, p = 0.01), but the magnitude of the association is weak and inverse, and less than with dyslipidemia and age. The association remained significant after inclusion of the sum of resilience measures via a combined resiliency score. Resilience was not independently significantly associated with CAD. Our findings indicate the contribution of HCC to CAD risk is small in an average-risk population and remains after adjustment for multisystem resilience.

Researchers have theorized that exposure to racial discrimination may impair executive functioning. The limited existing data broadly support this notion and suggest that discrimination may exert acute and persistent effects on executive functioning, potentially because of the cognitive demands associated with responding to discrimination. However, it is unclear if discrimination is differentially associated with different core executive functions. Further, the effects may vary depending on the timing of exposure, as recent or acute exposure to discrimination may operate on executive functioning through different mechanisms than exposure across the lifetime. The current study evaluates the relations of both recent and lifetime exposure to racial discrimination to three core executive functions (i.e., cognitive flexibility, inhibitory control and working memory) using a racially and ethnically diverse sample (n = 319). In fully adjusted models, recent discrimination was negatively associated with cognitive flexibility and working memory but not with inhibitory control. These data are consistent with the broader literature on acute stress effects on core executive functions and may have implications for understanding the effects of discrimination on health. Further research is warranted to understand the course and mechanisms of effects of lifetime and recent discrimination on core executive functions.