The Acute Relationship between Affective States and Stress Biomarkers in Ethnic Minority Youths.

Cheng K Fred Wen,Donna Spruijt-Metz,Britni R Belcher,Marc J Weigensberg,David S Black,Chih-Ping Chou

doi:10.3390/ijerph182312670

Abstract

Background: Whether affective states acutely predict the hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal (HPA) axis activities and whether energy balance-related behaviors moderate the affect–HPA axis relationship in obese youths are not well-understood. Methods: 87 mostly obese (94.3% obese) minority adolescents (mean: 16.3 ± 1.2 years old; 56.8% Latino and 43.2% African American) participated in a randomized crossover trial in an observation laboratory, where they received either high-sugar/low-fiber (HSLF) or low-sugar/high-fiber (LSHF) meals first and then crossed over in the next visit 2–4 weeks later. During each visit, they rated five affective states and provided a saliva sample every 30 min for the first 5 h and wore a waist-worn accelerometer. The association between the affect ratings and cortisol levels in the subsequent 30 min and the moderation effect of energy balance-related behavior were examined using multilevel models. Results: Within-person negative affect (β = 0.02, p = 0.0343) and feeling of panic (β = 0.007, p = 0.004) were acutely related to the subsequent cortisol level only during the HSLF condition. The time spent in moderate-to-vigorous physical activity did not moderate the acute relationship between affect and the subsequent cortisol level. Conclusions: Negative affect could be acutely related to heightened HPA axis activities in youths, but only when they were exposed to meals with high sugar and low fiber content. These results suggest that the meals’ sugar and fiber content may modulate HPA axis reactivity to negative affect in youths.

Highlights

The hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal (HPA) axis is an important neuroendocrinological system that provides physiological resources for the human body when faced with psychological and physiological demands that could challenge homeostasis [1]
When examining the affect–HPA axis relationship separately for each meal assignment, our study revealed that, at the within-person level, the average negative affective state score was associated with 1.91% (β: 0.02, p < 0.05) higher cortisol level 30 min after they had reported one point higher in average affective states compared to their personal average during the HS visit only (Table 2, Model 1)
The amount of time spent in moderate-tovigorous physical activity (MVPA) during the 30 min interval, both at the between- and the within-person level, did not moderate the relationship between affective states and subsequent cortisol levels

Summary

Introduction

The hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal (HPA) axis is an important neuroendocrinological system that provides physiological resources for the human body when faced with psychological and physiological demands that could challenge homeostasis [1]. Repeated activation of the HPA axis due to prolonged exposure to psychological or physiological demands can lead to the development of a dysregulated and maladaptive HPA axis [2,3]. The increase in exposure to cortisol, an indicator of HPA axis activation, has been linked to decreased insulin sensitivity [4], a major risk factor for developing type II diabetes [5], as well as increased risks of various adverse mental and physical health conditions [6,7].

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