Psychological predictors of neuroendocrine responses to mental stress

Abstract

Neuroendocrine reactions to a number of stressors have been subject to numerous studies. The sympathetic adreno-medullary system's sensitivity to mental as well as physical stressors is well documented, and increased attention has recently been focused on neuropeptides and steroid hormones in relationship to stress. There is, however, a scarcity of studies examining the relationship between psychosocial and neuroendocrine factors during stress and assessing possible interactions by means of multivariate models. The present study confirms that the sympathetic adreno-medullary system is sensitive to mental stressors. The study also shows that neuroendocrine and physiological stressor reactions vary greatly from one individual to another. Thus, certain psychosocial and personality factors appear to have strong predictive values with regard to stressor-induced neurophysiological reactions. Further studies are certainly needed to enhance our understanding of individual differences in neurophysiological reactions to apparently identical stressors. Such investigations may increase our understanding of why certain people develop illnesses during prolonged strain while others do not.