Contextual Stress Research Articles

Examining the implications of contextual stress and maternal sensitivity for infants’ cortisol responses to the still face paradigm

Infants’ hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenocortical (HPA) axis responses to acute stressors are theorized to be shaped by parents’ sensitive responsiveness to infants’ cues. The strength and direction of the association between maternal sensitivity and infants’ HPA responses may depend on the context in which maternal sensitivity is observed and on broader environmental sources of stress and support. In this preregistered study, we used data from 105 mothers and their 7-month-old infants to examine whether two empirically identified forms of contextual stress—poor maternal psychosocial wellbeing and family socioeconomic hardship—moderate the association between maternal sensitivity and infants’ cortisol responses to the Still-Face Paradigm (SFP). Results indicated that maternal sensitivity during the free play and family socioeconomic hardship interacted to predict infants’ cortisol responses to the SFP. Specifically, maternal sensitivity during this non-distressing interaction was negatively associated with cortisol responses only among infants whose mothers were experiencing relatively high socioeconomic hardship. Exploratory analyses revealed that poor maternal psychosocial wellbeing was positively associated with overall infant cortisol production during the SFP. Altogether, these findings suggest that experiences within early parent-infant attachment relationships and sources of contextual stress work together to shape infant HPA axis activity.

Temporary disability pension recipients: Contextual stress factors and their effect on return-to-work-intention.

In the last decades, Germany has experienced a vast increase in the number of individuals applying for or receiving disability benefit. Only a small proportion of them intends to return to work. The present study aims to identify and describe the percentage of temporary disability pensioners, who have the intention to return to working life. The final sample consisted of 496 insured individuals who were receiving temporary disability pension from the Regional German Pension Insurance (DRV) at that time. Participation was voluntary and anonymous. The following self-report instruments were administered: a. Evaluation of Contextual Factors; b. German Symptom Validation Test (BEVA); c. German Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9); d. Readiness for Return-to-Work German Scale (RRTW). The results revealed that approximately 6% of participants were at the stage of "preparation", 31.9% at the stage of "contemplation", and more than half of the participants were at the stage of "pre-contemplation" according to the RRTW. Comparing the groups of "pre-contemplation" (Group 1) and "contemplation+preparation" (Group 2+3), no statistically significant differences were found, except for age. In conclusion, further research is required to identify possible factors which could predict the stage of RRTW. New interventions are needed that can raise the motivation for and success in the return to work of disability pensioners.

Individual Stress, Contextual Stress, and Network Attributes on Cyberbullying Perpetration Among Young Adults During the COVID-19 Lockdown

ABSTRACT General Strain Theory (GST) was applied to understand the emergence of cyberbullying during the COVID-19 lockdown. However, how contextual stress and network attributes contributed to cyberbullying perpetration has yet to be explored. Thus, to fill this gap in the literature, this study surveyed 494 young adults from one college of a university in China during the COVID-19 lockdown. The contextual stress was measured by the average stress reported by each individual’s self-nominated peer. Logit regression with interactive terms was conducted to investigate whether network attributes moderate the stress-cyberbullying nexus. The results revealed that cyberbullying perpetration was directly triggered by individual stress rather than contextual stress. Further, young adults with increased individual stress had a higher probability of cyberbullying perpetration, if their betweenness was high. Notably, for those with elevated betweenness, the association between contextual stress and cyberbullying perpetration was attenuated. Our findings provide novel insights into understanding cyberbullying phenomenon during the pandemic. Roles of individual stress and contextual stress on trigging cyberbully perpetration varied with one’s network position. Both the network analysis and the GST theory had significant potential to be applied in further cyberbullying studies.

Parental Symptoms of Anhedonia, Parenting, and Youth Outcomes: A Multi-Method, Multi-Informant Investigation.

Parental depression is a well-established risk factor for youth psychopathology; however, depression is highly heterogeneous, and different parental symptom profiles may be differentially associated with risk mechanisms and youth psychopathology outcomes. Thus, this study examined associations between parental anhedonic symptoms of depression, specifically, and (1) parenting and (2) youth outcomes using a multi-method, multi-informant approach. Participants included 595 parents (89% mothers) and youth (ages 8-16; M[SD] = 12.07[2.39]). Regression analyses indicated that parental self-reported anhedonic symptoms at baseline demonstrated relatively specific prospective associations with chronic parent-child stress assessed using contextual stress interview methods, as well as youth self-reported depressive symptoms at 18-month follow-up. Findings also indicated concurrent associations between parental anhedonic symptoms and observed parental criticism, conflict, and responsiveness in the context of a 5-min discussion task, as well as parent self-reported monitoring/supervision, although results were no longer significant after controlling for parental co-occurring non-anhedonic depressive symptoms. Findings suggest that parental anhedonic symptoms may contribute to relatively unique reductions in the quality of the parent-child relationship and may be a particularly salient risk factor for youth depression.

Life stress and adiposity in mothers: A 14-year follow-up in the general population.

Exposure to specific stressors has been found to associate with higher adiposity in adulthood. However, the potential overlapping effects of stress domains have been overlooked, as well as the role of parenting-related stressors that mothers are widely exposed to in mid-adulthood. Therefore, we assessed the association of overlapping effects of stress domains, including parenting-related stress, with subsequent adiposity in mothers. In 3957 mothers from the population-based Generation R Study, life stress was assessed during the first 10years of child-rearing and measured as a reflective latent variable of stress domains. Structural equation modelling was used to assess the association of life stress and its individual domains with body mass index (BMI) and waist circumference after 14years of follow-up. Greater life stress over the course of 10years was associated with a higher BMI (standardized adjusted difference: 0.57kg/m2 [95% CI: 0.41-0.72]) and a larger waist circumference (1.15cm [0.72-1.57]). When examining individual stress domains, we found that life events was independently associated with a higher BMI (0.16kg/m2 ) and contextual stress was independently associated with a higher BMI (0.43kg/m2 ) and larger waist circumference (1.04cm). Parenting stress and interpersonal stress were not independently associated with adiposity at follow-up. The overlap of multiple domains of stress in mothers is associated with a higher risk of adiposity. This effect was stronger than for individual life stress domains, reiterating the need to consider overlapping effects of different life stress domains.

Shift-and-persist coping and health among rural African American adolescents.

This study examines whether shift-and-persist coping, a coping strategy defined by accepting challenges and remaining hopeful for the future, is associated with psychosocial and physical health and/or moderates the effects of contextual stress (i.e., racial discrimination, financial strain) on health among African American adolescents living in the rural Southeastern United States. Participants (N = 299, 56% boys, Mage = 12.91) completed measures of shift-and-persist coping, contextual stress, and psychosocial and physical health. Shift-and-persist coping was generally associated with better health but did not buffer the effects of contextual stress. Results suggest that shift-and-persist coping may serve as a source of resilience among African American adolescents living in a context where many experience heightened contextual stress.

The Unique and Interactive Effects of Threat and Deprivation Adversity on Emerging Adults’ Latent Trait Cortisol (LTC)

The mechanisms through which early adversity predicts psychopathology differ for threat (e.g., assault) versus deprivation (e.g., neglect) adversity. Threat, but not deprivation, adversity is linked to hypothalamic pituitary adrenal (HPA) axis activity, but whether this effect is modified by co-occurring adversities has not been examined. Here we tested whether threat adversity, deprivation adversity, and their interaction were related to latent trait cortisol (LTC), and whether other co-occurring adversities modified effects. Emerging adults (n=90) provided saliva samples 4 times per day during three 3-day sampling waves spanning 13 weeks. Contextual stress interviews assessed early adversity before age 18. An across-wave LTC factor was identified (CFI=.93, RMSEA=.05). Path models revealed that threat, but not deprivation, adversity was related to the across-wave LTC. Specifically, a greater frequency of threat adversity was related to lower across-wave LTC (β= -.40; p=.04), regardless of level of co-occurring deprivation adversity (ps>.05). Greater severity of threat adversity was also related to lower LTC, but only when deprivation adversity was lower in severity (b= -.03; p=.04). Finally, the effect of threat adversity on the across-wave LTC was stronger when co-occurring non-threat adversity was lower in severity (b= -.03; p=.01) and frequency (b= -.03; p=.01). Findings suggest that the impact of threat adversity on LTC depends upon its conceptualization and the context in which it occurs. These results help to identify for whom and under what circumstances threat adversity predicts lower LTC, a potential pathway to later psychopathology.

Context and Neuroendocrine Interplay in the Lab and Everyday Experiences: From Early Life to Adulthood

Context and Neuroendocrine Interplay in the Lab and Everyday Experiences: From Early Life to Adulthood

The Association of Life Stress with Subsequent Brain and Cognitive Reserve in Middle-Aged Women.

Cognitive and brain reserve refer to individual differences that allow some people to better withstand brain pathology than others. Although early life stress has been recognized as a risk factor for low reserve in late life, no research yet has studied this across midlife. To examine the associations of life stress with brain and cognitive reserve in midlife. We included 1,232 middle-aged women who participated in the ORACLE Study between 2002-2006). Life stress was calculated as the shared variance of four cumulative stress domains, created from items measured between pregnancy and 10 years after childbirth. Brain reserve was defined as healthy-appearing brain volume measured with MRI; cognitive reserve as better cognitive functioning than expected based on age, education, and brain MRI measures, using structural equation modelling. More life stress was associated with lower brain (standardized adjusted difference: -0.18 [95% CI 0.25,-0.12]) and cognitive reserve (-0.19 [-0.28,-0.10]). Although, effect sizes were typically smaller, cumulative stress domains were also associated with brain reserve (life events: -0.10 [-0.16,-0.04]; contextual stress: -0.13 [-0.19,-0.07]; parenting-related stress: -0.13[-0.19,-0.07]; interpersonal stress: -0.10 [-0.16,-0.04]) and cognitive reserve (life events: -0.18 [-0.25,-0.11]; contextual stress: -0.15 [-0.10,-0.02]; parenting-related stress: -0.10 [-0.18,-0.03]; interpersonal stress not significant). Women who experience more life stress in midlife were found to have lower reserve. Effects were primarily driven by shared variance across cumulative stress domains, suggesting that focusing on single domains may underestimate effects. The effect of life stress on lower reserve may make women with stress more prone to neurodegenerative disease later in life than women without stress.

Emotional wellbeing and coping among Latinx young adults in the time of COVID-19.

The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted the wellbeing of the general USpopulation, but even more so among Latinx young adults. The current study provides a detailed picture of the emotional wellbeing and coping of Latinx young adults during the first summer of the pandemic.Six virtual focus groups (n = 21) were conducted between May and August of 2020 with a community-based sample of Latinx young adults to explore (1) how the pandemic affected wellbeing and (2) how they coped with pandemic-related stress. Contextualistic thematic analysis identified important themes and subthemes. Perceived stressors impacting emotional wellbeing yielded one overarching theme: COVID-related disruptions in the participants' environment. To manage this heightened stress, another overarching theme was self-care and intentionality during the pandemic. Future studies should examine the wellbeing of young adults across social contexts and at more recent stages of the pandemic. Findings from this study suggest culturally- and developmentally-tailored interventions are needed as this population navigates contextual stress during a sensitive period in their life.

Reappraising negative emotions reduces distress during the COVID-19 outbreak.

In two studies, we examined the utility of intrinsic (i.e., self) versus extrinsic (i.e., other) reappraisal training for distress reduction during two consecutive COVID-19 lockdowns in Israel. In both Study 1 (n = 104) and Study 2 (n = 181), participants practiced the use of reappraisal for eight sessions across three weeks. Participants were trained to reappraise either a personal event (self-reappraisal group) or an incident presumably written by another participant (other-reappraisal group). Study 2 also included an untrained control group. Outcome measures were daily negative mood and psychological distress immediately at post-training and at a two-month follow-up. The results demonstrate a benefit for training compared to no training in lowering immediate post-training distress and daily negative emotions. However, this advantage disappeared at the two-month follow-up. In both studies, intrinsic reappraisal was associated with lower post-training distress than extrinsic reappraisal. Findings suggest reappraising negative experiences may lower distress at times of major contextual stress.Supplementary InformationThe online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s12144-022-03642-6.

The Transition to Fatherhood, Contextual Stress, and Substance Abuse: A Prospective Analysis of Rural, Emerging Adult Black American Men

Background: Among Black American emerging adult men (∼aged 18–25), the early transition to fatherhood is often marred by numerous contextual stressors related to racial discrimination and socioeconomic instability. The strain of transitioning to fatherhood while experiencing high levels of contextual stress may evidence escalations in substance misuse over time as men may turn to substances to cope with the stress of complex life transitions. However, research examining these associations are scarce. Objective: This study aimed to investigate the influence of contextual stress on the association between fatherhood and substance misuse. Hypotheses were tested using multiple linear regression with 3 waves of data from 476 Black American men aged 19 to 22 at baseline living in resource-poor communities in the rural South. Results: Results demonstrated that fatherhood status was associated, prospectively, with Black American fathers’ substance misuse when exposure to contextual stress was high but not low. Conclusions: Findings underscore the need for substance misuse prevention programs to (a) support Black American fathers in coping with race-related stress and (b) integrate robust socioeconomic stability services in order in disrupt patterns of future substance misuse by improving Black American men’s experience of the transition to fatherhood.

The culturally and contextually sensitive assessment of mental health using a structured diagnostic interview (MINI Kid) for Syrian refugee children and adolescents in Lebanon: Challenges and solutions.

Elevated rates of mental health difficulties are frequently reported in conflict-affected and displaced populations. Even with advances in improving the validity and reliability of measures, our knowledge of the performance of assessment tools is often limited by a lack of contextualization to specific populations and socio-political settings. This reflective article aimed to review challenges and share lessons learned from the process of administering and supervising a structured clinical interview. We administered the MINI International Neuropsychiatric Interview for Children and Adolescents (MINI Kid) and used the Clinical Global Impression (CGI) severity scale with N = 119 Syrian refugee children (aged 8-17) resident in ITSs in Lebanon. Qualitative data were derived from supervision process notes on challenges that arose during assessments, analyzed for thematic content. Five themes were identified: (1) practical and logistical challenges (changeable nature of daily life, competing demands, access to phones, temporary locations, limited referral options); (2) validity (lack of privacy, trust, perceptions of mental health, stigma, false positive answers); (3) cultural norms and meaning (impact of different meanings on answers); (4) contextual norms (reactive and adaptive emotional and behavioral responses to contextual stress); and (5) co-morbidity and formulation (interconnected and complex presentations). The findings suggest that while structured assessments have major advantages, cultural and contextual sensitivity during assessments, addressing practical barriers to improving accessibility, and consideration for inter-connected formulations are essential to help inform prevalence rates, treatment plans, and public health strategies.

Mental Health, Burnout and Problematic Drinking in Norwegian Medical Doctors

Previous studies have found relatively good physical health in doctors, whereas several studies now report relatively high levels of stress and burnout among them. With the exception of higher suicide rates, we have less evidence of poorer mental health among doctors than among other professionals. The elevated suicide rate may represent the tip of an iceberg of frustration and inadequate mental health care among medical doctors. There are very few longitudinal studies that can identify possible risk factors and causality. The Longitudinal Study of Norwegian Medical Students and Doctors (NORDOC) has since 1993/94 followed repeatedly two cohorts of medical students (N=1052) in seven waves during 25 years (Facebook: @docsinrush). Outcomes presented here are on mental health, burnout and problematic drinking. There are two main hypotheses with regard to possible risk factors. First, it may be due to individual factors such as personality traits, past mental health problems etc. Second, contextual stress may influence mental health among doctors, whether this be unhealthy working conditions or negative life events (i.e. stress outside of work). The presentation will give and overview of both individual and work-related predictors of stress and mental health problems among Norwegian physicians. Individual and organizational interventions to reduce stress and physician burnout will also be dealt with.DisclosureNo significant relationships.

Stress-Buffering Effects of Mindfulness Programming for Adolescents in Schools During Periods of High- and Low-Stress

Purpose Stress is a risk factor for poor educational achievement and health. Mindfulness-based programming (MBP) is a viable technology for reducing stress, and Mindful Stress Buffering theory suggests that the benefits of MBP will be most pronounced during periods of high stress. This research details a replication of the MBP “Learning to BREATHE” in a racially diverse urban public high school during a period of relatively low stress (i.e., absence of high-stakes testing). Design/Approach/Methods Five classrooms ( n = 66) were randomly assigned by classroom to MBP or typical educational programming. Socioemotional attributes were measured pre–post-intervention. Data were contrasted with results from the initial project that occurred during a period of high stress (i.e., the presence of high-stakes testing). Findings Results indicate a failure to replicate significant intervention effects of MBP on socioemotional attributes. Results indicate that the original Felver et al.’s (2019) sample had higher self-reported stress than the current study's sample. Originality/Value These findings provide the first empirical data in support of the Mindful Stress Buffering theory among an adolescent sample, and this has implications for clinicians and researchers interested in utilizing MBP to support the wellbeing of student populations during other periods of high contextual stress (e.g., COVID-19 pandemic).

Language Brokering–Stress Transition Profiles and Marijuana Use in Mexican-Origin Adolescents

ABSTRACT Although Mexican-origin adolescents experience multiple contextual stressors (e.g., discrimination, economic stress, and foreigner stress) that may result in increased marijuana use, they actively engage in cultural practices (e.g., language brokering) that may protect them from adverse developmental outcomes. Yet, the joint influence of contextual stressors and language brokering on marijuana use has rarely been studied from a developmental perspective. Using a sample of 604 Mexican-origin adolescent brokers (54% female, Mage.Wave1 = 12.41), we examined how stability and change of language brokering–contextual stress (i.e., broker–stress) profiles across three waves are related to adolescent marijuana use. We hypothesized that adolescents with positive brokering experiences and lower contextual stress across three waves (i.e., those in the Stable Protective profile) would be the least likely to use marijuana. For brokering for mothers, the Stable Protective and the Change to Protective groups were less likely than other groups to use marijuana. For brokering for fathers, the Stable Protective group was the least likely to use marijuana and the Change to Protective group was less likely than the Risk at Any Wave group to use marijuana. Interventions could foster brokering-related positive feelings across the course of adolescence to reduce marijuana use among Mexican-origin adolescents.

Reported Affect Changes as a Function of Response Delay: Findings From a Pooled Dataset of Nine Experience Sampling Studies.

Delayed responses are a common phenomenon in experience sampling studies. Yet no consensus exists on whether they should be excluded from the analysis or what the threshold for exclusion should be. Delayed responses could introduce bias, but previous investigations of systematic differences between delayed and timely responses have offered unclear results. To investigate differences as a function of delay, we conducted secondary analyses of nine paper and pencil based experience sampling studies including 1,528 individuals with different clinical statuses. In all participants, there were significant decreases in positive and increases in negative affect as a function of delay. In addition, delayed answers of participants without depression showed higher within-person variability and an initial strengthening in the relationships between contextual stress and affect. Participants with depression mostly showed the opposite pattern. Delayed responses seem qualitatively different from timely responses. Further research is needed to understand the mechanisms underlying these differences.

Family-centered prevention to enhance parenting skills during the transition to elementary school: A randomized trial.

The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of a family-centered preventive intervention, the Family Check-Up (FCU), on improving parenting skills during kindergarten and first grade, when children are challenged to engage in a variety of new behaviors, such as sustained attention and self-regulation of behavior in the classroom. Building on prior research and funded by the Department of Education, we tested the effect of the FCU on parenting skills during the transition to kindergarten. We predicted both direct and moderated effects of the FCU on changes in parenting, including positive parenting, monitoring/family routines, and negative parenting skills. In this registered clinical trial (NCT02289092; see Consolidated Standards of Reporting Trials diagram in Figure 1), participants were 321 families of kindergarten children recruited from 5 public elementary schools and randomly assigned to either the FCU or to a school-as-usual control group (n = 164 assigned to intervention). Families engaged in the intervention at a high rate (75%) and completed assessments about parenting skills from kindergarten to first grade. Results suggest that FCU effects on parenting skills were moderated by parenting contextual stress. As stress increased, so did positive effects of FCU on monitoring/family routines and negative parenting. No effects on positive parenting skills were observed. Results of this research suggest the effects of the FCU are more pronounced for high-stress families and contribute to the literature supporting adaptive, tailored approaches to intervention for high-risk children and their caregivers. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).

A Comparison of Low‐Income Versus Higher‐Income Individuals Seeking an Online Relationship Intervention

Compared to higher-income couples, low-income couples experience higher rates of relationship disruption, including divorce and breakup of cohabiting relationships. In recognition of this disparity in relationship outcomes, relationship interventions have increasingly been targeted at this population. However, these interventions have had limited impacts on the relationships of low-income couples. Developing interventions that are effective and responsive to the needs of low-income couples requires descriptive data on the challenges those couples perceive in their own relationships and an assessment of how their needs compare to the more affluent couples typically served by relationship interventions. The current study sampled over 5,000 individuals at the time they were seeking an online relationship intervention and compared the relationship functioning and life circumstances reported by low-income individuals to that of higher-income individuals. Results indicate that low-income individuals seeking a relationship intervention had higher levels of relationship distress (lower relationship satisfaction, more intense primary relationship problems, and less relationship stability), and had greater levels of contextual stress (more children living at home, less likely to be employed full-time, and lower levels of perceived health). Results suggest that future interventions designed to target low-income couples, as well as practitioners working with low-income couples, should be prepared to handle higher levels of relationship distress and contextual stressors than they may typically see in more affluent couples.

Complex Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Symptom Profiles in Traumatized Refugees.

Although it is well documented that exposure to severe, cumulative trauma and postdisplacement stress increases the risk for posttraumatic stress symptom disorder (PTSD), less is known about the representation and predictors of complex PTSD (CPTSD) symptoms in refugee populations. We examined PTSD and CPTSD symptom profiles (co-occurring PTSD and disturbances in self-organization [DSO] symptoms) and their premigration, postmigration, and demographic predictors, using latent class analysis (LCA), in a cohort of 112 refugees resettled in Australia. The LCA identified a four-factor model as the best fit to the data, comprising classes categorized as: (a) CPTSD, exhibiting high levels of PTSD and DSO symptoms (29.5%); (b) PTSD only (23.5%); (c) high affective dysregulation (AD) symptoms (31.9%); and (d) low PTSD and DSO symptoms (15.1%). Membership in the CPTSD and PTSD classes was specifically associated with cumulative traumatization, CPTSD OR = 1.56, 95% CI [1.15, 2.12], and PTSD OR = 1.64, 95% CI [1.15, 2.34]; and female gender, CPTSD OR = 14.18, 95% CI [1.66, 121.29], and PTSD OR = 16.84, 95% CI [1.78, 159.2], relative to the low-symptom class. Moreover, CPTSD and AD class membership was significantly predicted by insecure visa status, CPTSD OR = 7.53, 95% CI [1.26, 45.08], and AD OR = 7.19, 95% CI [1.23, 42.05]. These findings are consistent with the ICD-11 model of CPTSD and highlight the contributions of cumulative trauma to CPTSD and PTSD profiles as well as of contextual stress from visa uncertainty to DSO symptom profiles in refugee cohorts, particularly those characterized by AD.