The Role of Identification with Disaster Victims in Psychological Responses among Non-Exposed Rescue Workers Following an Airplane Crash.

High levels of acute stress increase risk-taking and limit objective Situation Awareness (SA), actual knowledge of what is around you. Little research, however, has been directed toward understanding how stress influences subjective SA, an individual's assumption of their objective SA accuracy. The present experiment uses newly developed methods for highly controlled manipulations of stress, and newly designed measurements of risk-taking in a complex combat simulation. Results of this research indicated that high levels of acute stress may lead individuals to be overconfident in their SA and take more risks. Results are discussed in terms of their importance for individuals who require adequate SA in order to perform occupational tasks effectively, such as air-traffic controllers, pilots, and military personnel.

Investigations of police performance during acutely stressful situations have primarily focused on higher-order cognitive processes like attention, affect or emotion and decision-making, and the behavioral outcomes of these processes, such as errors in lethal force. However, behavioral outcomes in policing must be understood as a combination of both higher-order processes and the physical execution of motor skills. What is missing from extant police literature is an understanding of how physiological responses to acute stress contribute to observed decrements in skilled motor performance at the neuromuscular level. The purpose of the current paper is to fill this knowledge gap in the following ways: (1) review scientific evidence for the physiological (i.e., autonomic, endocrine, and musculoskeletal) responses to acutely stressful exposures and their influence on skilled motor performance in both human and animal models, (2) review applied evidence on occupationally relevant stress physiology and observed motor decrements in performance among police, and (3) discuss the implications of stress physiology for police training and identify future directions for applied researchers. Evidence is compelling that skill decay is inevitable under high levels of acute stress; however, robust evidence-informed training practices can help mitigate this decay and contribute to officer safety.

The terrorist attacks of 9/11 (September 11, 2001) present an unusual opportunity to examine prospectively the physical health impact of extreme stress in a national sample. To examine the degree to which acute stress reactions to the 9/11 terrorist attacks predict cardiovascular outcomes in a national probability sample over the subsequent 3 years. A national probability sample of 2729 adults (78.1% participation rate), 95.0% of whom had completed a health survey before 9/11 (final health sample, 2592), completed a Web-based assessment of acute stress responses approximately 9 to 14 days after the terrorist attacks. Follow-up health surveys reassessed physician-diagnosed cardiovascular ailments 1 (n = 1923, 84.3% participation rate), 2 (n = 1576, 74.2% participation rate), and 3 (n = 1950, 78.9% participation rate) years following the attacks. Reports of physician-diagnosed cardiovascular ailments over the 3 years following the attacks. Acute stress responses to the 9/11 attacks were associated with a 53% increased incidence of cardiovascular ailments over the 3 subsequent years, even after adjusting for pre-9/11 cardiovascular and mental health status, degree of exposure to the attacks, cardiovascular risk factors (ie, smoking, body mass index, and number of endocrine ailments), total number of physical health ailments, somatization, and demographics. Individuals reporting high levels of acute stress immediately following the attacks reported an increased incidence of physician-diagnosed hypertension (rate ratios, 2.15 at 1 year and 1.75 at 2 years) and heart problems (rate ratios, 2.98 at 1 year and 3.12 at 2 years) over 2 years. Among individuals reporting ongoing worry about terrorism post-9/11, high 9/11-related acute stress symptoms predicted increased risk of physician-diagnosed heart problems 2 to 3 years following the attacks (rate ratios, 4.67 at 2 years and 3.22 at 3 years). Using health data collected before 9/11 as a baseline, acute stress response to the terrorist attacks predicted increased reports of physician-diagnosed cardiovascular ailments over 3 years following the attacks.

L’évolution des facteurs prédictifs de la détresse psychologique des étudiants en contexte de Covid-19 : un modèle d’équation structurelle exploratoire

Background Both chronic stress and depression, when left untreated during pregnancy, are associated with deleterious maternal and neonatal health effects. Depressed pregnant women have been shown to exhibit high levels of acute stress, via validated biological markers. No such biomarkers exist for chronic stress. Methods In this pilot study, we prospectively enrolled 50 women (25 pregnant/depressed, 25 pregnant/non-depressed), each of whom provided a scalp hair sample and completed two validated questionnaires to measure their levels of depression (CES-D) and chronic stress (PSS). Hair samples were analyzed for cortisol levels using ELISA and measurements were confirmed via HPLC. Results Chronic stress correlated strongly with depressive symptoms in all patients (rs=0.86, p<0.000001). In depressed patients, both PSS and CES-D scores were significantly negatively correlated with hair cortisol levels (rs=−0.40, p<0.05 and rs=−0.39, p<0.05 respectively). In contrast, PSS scores of non-depressed patients were significantly positively correlated with hair cortisol measurements (rs=0.36; p<0.05). Conclusions Stress and depression were highly correlated, suggesting that women who were depressed were also chronically stressed. However, women who were most depressed and most stressed appeared to have the lowest levels of hair cortisol, suggesting that different mechanisms modulate stress in depressed and non-depressed pregnant women. Clinical Pharmacology & Therapeutics (2005) 77, P69–P69; doi: 10.1016/j.clpt.2004.12.155

The aim of this study was to assess the role of the patient's background and perceived healthcare-related factors in symptoms of acute stress after lung cancer diagnosis. The study population consisted of 89 individuals referred for diagnostic work-up at Landspitali National University Hospital in Iceland and subsequently diagnosed with lung cancer. Before diagnosis, the patients completed questionnaires on sociodemographic characteristics, pre-diagnostic distress (Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale), social support, and resilience. At a median of 16 days after diagnosis, the patients reported symptoms of acute stress on the Impact of Event Scale-Revised (IES-R) and experience of communication and support from healthcare professionals and family during the diagnostic period. Patients were on average 68 years and 52% reported high levels of post-diagnostic acute stress (IES-R > 23) while 24% reported symptoms suggestive of clinical significance (IES-R > 32). Prior history of cancer (β = 6.7, 95% CI: 0.1 to 13.3) and pre-diagnostic distress were associated with higher levels of post-diagnostic acute stress (β = 8.8, 95% CI: 2.7 to 14.9), while high educational level (β = - 7.9, 95% CI: - 14.8 to - 1.1) was associated with lower levels. Controlling for the abovementioned factors, the patients' perception of optimal doctor-patient (β = - 9.1, 95% CI: - 14.9 to - 3.3) and family communication (β = - 8.6, 95% CI: - 14.3 to - 2.9) was inversely associated with levels of post-diagnostic acute stress after lung cancer diagnosis. A high proportion of patients with newly diagnosed lung cancer experience high levels of acute traumatic stress of potential clinical significance. Efforts to improve doctor-patient and family communication may mitigate the risk of these adverse symptoms.

Multi-trajectory analysis uncovers latent associations between psychological and physiological acute stress response patterns

Parents of NICU infants are a vulnerable population from a psychological perspective, and often experience high levels of acute stress, depression, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress. The added burden of the current SARS CoV-2 disease (COVID-19) pandemic is likely to exacerbate these issues, with potential implications for the wellbeing of infants and families in the short- and long-term. In this paper, we propose utilizing the stress contagion framework and consider how psychosocial stress can “spill over” into the parent-infant relationship domain, which can impact child development and family wellbeing longer term. As the effects of the pandemic will likely persist well beyond the acute stage, we offer advocacy points and general guidelines for healthcare professionals to consider in their quest to mitigate stress and build resilience in NICU families.

The ability to manage high levels of acute stress is an important determinant of successful performance in many occupations including those performed in extreme environments. In situations where performance is critical, personnel must be prepared to operate or execute tasks successfully under hostile or extreme stress conditions; therefore, training programs and engineered systems must be designed to ensure that humans can perform successfully. To design appropriate training programs for these conditions, it is necessary to measure stress. A framework for modeling stress was developed to quantify stress levels and its impact on human performance. This model is based on human responses (physiological and cognitive) to stressors as well as characteristics inherent to type of task performed and factors that play roles as mediators and moderators (e.g., task appraisal, personality, gender). Artificial Neural Networks was explored as a possible approach for quantification. Thus, this research provides a predictive model for acute stress as a function of human performance and task demand. The goal of this work is to develop a tool for accident prevention, training and human performance assessment under stress conditions.

Background. The study of mental health in patients with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is a promising area of medicine not only in terms of determining the psychological profile, but can also serve as an alternative in terms of further management and treatment of this group of patients. The purpose of the study was to examine mental health of IBS patients. Materials and methods. 54 patients with IBS were examined in the psychiatric clinic of Gǟvle Hospital in 2019–2021. They were included in group I of the examined patients. The control group (groupII) included 40 healthy individuals. Assessment of the psychological status was determined using the following methods: 1) Psychological Stress Measure PSM-25 by Lemyr-Tessier-Fillion; 2) The Holmes and Rahe Stress Scale; 3) Health Assessment 36-Item Short Form Survey (SF-36 Health Assessment). Results. Despite the fact that physical symptoms (abdominal pain, intestinal spasm, defecatory dysfunction) were the main complaints in the clinical picture of our patients with IBS, it was found that the key factor in exacerbating and maintaining IBS physical symptoms are psychosocial (cognitive and emotional) factors. We evaluated the quality of life and psychological state of the examined patients with IBS. Analyzing the PSM-25 questions answered by patients from group I with IBS (n=54) and from control group II (n=40) on the level of psychological stress, the following results were obtained with gender distribution: 42.9% of female patients of group I had a high level of stress, and 50.0% a medium level of stress; low levels of stress were found in only 7.1% of female patients of group I. After analyzing the level of stress, we assessed stress resistance, as a significant proportion of patients showed high and medium levels of stress. The level of stress was significantly higher in patients with IBS compared with the control group II. According to the survey on the psychological and physical component of health, these scores were also reduced in patients with IBS compared with the control group. Conclusions. High and medium levels of stress, as well as reduced stress resistance, were found in IBS patients, which is more pronounced in male patients. Decreased psychological and physical components of health have been found in IBS patients, indicating a reduction in the quality of life of these patients.

Acute and chronic stress effects on cardiac interoceptive accuracy and heartbeat-evoked potentials in chronically-stressed schoolteachers.

The prefrontal cortex (PFC), a region responsible for high-order cognitive functions, such as decision-making, attention and working memory, is highly influenced by stress and corticosteroid stress hormones. Recently it has been shown that acute stress affects PFC functions by potentiating glutamatergic transmission via a mechanism dependent on glucocorticoid receptor (GR) and its downstream target, serum and glucocorticoid-inducible kinase (SGK). To identify the key regulators of stress responses, we examined the role of histone deacetylase 6 (HDAC6), a unique member of the HDAC family that could regulate the GR chaperone protein heat shock protein 90 (HSP90), in the synaptic action of acute stress in PFC. We found that HDAC6 inhibition or knockdown blocked the enhancement of glutamatergic transmission and glutamate receptor trafficking by acute stress in vivo or corticosterone treatment in vitro. In addition, HDAC6 inhibition blocked the up-regulation of SGK in animals exposed to acute stress. HSP90 inhibition or knockdown produced a similar blockade of the acute stress-induced enhancement of glutamatergic signalling. These findings have identified HDAC6 as a key molecule gating the effects of acute stress on synaptic functions in the PFC.

Aims: The INTRA group is a robotic emergency response organization for nuclear accidents. The staff must therefore be prepared for this type of situation of high stress level. To ensure that, the applicants to join the group are tested at the time of recruitment. In 2021, the recruitment tests were reinforced by completing the stress resistance test. At the time, this test consisted only of a Stroop test without any other measure of stress, providing only access to performance under stress. It was therefore necessary to improve this stress test. Methodology: The new stress-test (version 1) was broken down into several consecutive sequences including a Stroop test, a psychotechnical test under acute stress conditions, and again a Stroop test. The applicant was equipped with a chest strap with sensors to access to the heart rate variability (HRV) for each sequence and a performance score was calculated. The cross-comparison of the results allowed access to the subject's performance under acute stress as well as to the resilience to stress by comparing the subject's performance between the two Stroop tests. Between 2021 and 2024, 26 subjects were subjected to the stress test: average age 46.5 years old (SD=8.6), 15% female. Results: The study of the stress-test was carried out in 2 periods, using respectively version 1 and 2 of the psychotechnical test. The analysis of the protocol based on version 1 made it possible to hypothesize that interruption and doubt or outcome uncertainty contributed to increasing the level of stress during the Stroop test, but were absent of the psychotechnical test. It was therefore decided to systematically generate interruption and doubt during the psychotechnical test in period 2. The results were very satisfactory: the percentage of subjects with a higher level of stress on the psychotechnical test compared to the Stroop test increased from 33 to 73% (p=.05) and the average increase in HRV was up to 41% for the psychotechnical test compared to the Stroop test (p&lt;.02) while not significant in period 1. Conclusion: Doubt or outcome uncertainty related to decision-making combined with activity interruption is a significant factor in the generation of acute mental stress. In the context of the present study, doubt leads to questioning and comparing different options whereas uncertainty relates to the validity of the outcome resulting from decision-making.

Parents who have a newborn with a congenital heart defect experience negative emotions, which may determine the emotional state of their children. The study group included 154 parents of newborns and infants with cyanotic congenital heart disease, before cardiac surgery and after the procedure. HADS m and PSS-10 questionnaires were used to assess parental anxiety, depression, aggression, and the level of stress. High levels of depression, anxiety, total HADS and stress were diagnosed in a large group of parents, regardless of the stage of cardiac surgery treatment. A high level of stress was associated with a higher prevalence of emotional disturbance both in the total HADS (overall) and in all its individual domains. Anxiety and depression were more common in mothers. A high level of stress was a significant predictor of anxiety and depression in parents. A high level of stress was a significant predictor of anxiety and depression in parents of infants with congenital heart disease. The parents' psychological condition is one of many potential determinants over the course of their child's treatment and recovery.

The events of Sept. 11, 2001, highlighted the importance of understanding the effects of trauma on disaster workers. To better plan for the health care of disaster workers, this study examined acute stress disorder, posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), early dissociative symptoms, depression, and health care utilization in disaster workers. Exposed disaster workers (N=207) and unexposed comparison subjects (N=421) were examined at 2, 7, and 13 months after an airplane crash. Exposed disaster workers had significantly higher rates of acute stress disorder, PTSD at 13 months, depression at 7 months, and depression at 13 months than comparison subjects. Those who were younger and single were more likely to develop acute stress disorder. Exposed disaster workers with acute stress disorder were 3.93 times more likely to be depressed at 7 months. Those with high exposure and previous disaster experience or who had acute stress disorder were more likely to develop PTSD. Similarly, those who were depressed at 7 months were 9.5 times more likely to have PTSD. Those who were depressed at 13 months were 7.96 times more likely to also meet PTSD criteria. More exposed disaster workers than comparison subjects obtained medical care for emotional problems at 2, 7, and 13 months. Overall, 40.5% of exposed disaster workers versus 20.4% of comparison subjects had acute stress disorder, depression at 13 months, or PTSD. Exposed disaster workers are at increased risk of acute stress disorder, depression, or PTSD and seek care for emotional problems at an increased rate.