Effects of an incremental theory of the personality intervention on psychophysiological responses to social stress during the transition to college

Esther Calvete,Sven C Mueller,Eneko Ruiz-Alonso,Estibaliz Royuela-Colomer,Liria Fernández-González,Aida Morea,Joana Gómez-Odriozola,Maite Larrucea-Iruretagoyena,Angel Prieto-Fidalgo,Todd D Little,Izaskun Orue

doi:10.1007/s12144-021-02681-9

Esther Calvete, Sven C Mueller + Show 9 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-021-02681-9

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Abstract

This randomized controlled trial (NCT04786496) examined the effects of a preventive intervention based on Incremental Theory of the Personality (ITP) on psychophysiological responses to social stress and evaluated whether levels of depression moderate the intervention effects. The participants, 107 first-year university students, were randomly assigned to one of three conditions: ITP intervention, ITP + a self-affirmation intervention (SA), and a control condition (CC). Indicators of the Hypothalamic–Pituitary–Adrenal axis, autonomic nervous system, and subjective mood were assessed with the Trier Social Stress Task. Participants in the ITP condition displayed a lower decline in respiratory sinus arrythmia (RSA) compared to those in the CC during the first phases of the task [Slopes: -0.08 (0.09) vs -0.21 (0.09), z = 2.86, p = .004] and a higher decrease in cortisol at recovery [β = -0.18 (0.08), z = -2.37, p = .018]. Depressive symptoms moderated the effect of ITP [β = -0.10 (0.05), z = -2.15, p =.032] and ITP+SA [β = -0.09 (0.04), z = -2.06, p =.039] in the decline during stress and recovery in RSA. In participants with low/medium levels of depressive symptoms, both interventions predicted a lower decline during stress [Slopes: -0.06 (0.09) for ITP, -0.17 (.09) for ITP+SA, and -0.26 (0.09) for CC] and higher recovery in RSA [Slopes: 0.18 (0.01) for ITP, 0.24 (0.01) for ITP+SA, and 0.30 (0.01) for CC]. The findings suggest that the ITP intervention has the potential to be an effective preventive intervention to reduce the stress response.

Highlights

Dysregulated reactivity to stress has been proposed as a key etiological factor for depression (Lucas-Thompson et al, 2018)
Whereas the sympathetic nervous system (SNS) is measured by biomarkers, such as heart rate (HR) and skin conductance level (SCL) (Bauerly et al, 2019), parasympathetic nervous system (PNS) activation is measured by respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA), a metric of high-frequency heart rate variability
There were no differences between groups in depressive symptoms and sex

Summary

Introduction

Dysregulated reactivity to stress has been proposed as a key etiological factor for depression (Lucas-Thompson et al, 2018). More effective regulation of the stress response is indicated by a higher baseline level and less reactive RSA during stress (Goger et al, 2020). A systematic review revealed that individuals high in depressive symptoms show a response pattern similar to that of healthy participants (i.e., a lower fluctuation in heart rate and RSA) but with a lower magnitude both in stress and recovery situations (Schiweck et al, 2019). This was interpreted as a lack of cardiovascular modulation in the response to stress. The evidence is inconclusive, depressive symptoms are associated with dysregulated HPA axis functioning in response to stress (Fiksdal et al, 2020)

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