Psychosocial Stress Responses Research Articles

Biopsychosocial responses to social rejection in targets of relational aggression

A total of 28 college students participated in a live interpersonal challenge to assess psychosocial and neuroendocrine stress responses to social exclusion in females. Using the tend-and-befriend theory as a model for interpersonal stress response, this study examined how social exclusion is related to social information processing, willingness to affiliate, psychological state affect, and cortisol reactivity in women with a history of relational victimization. Results revealed that cortisol reactivity was associated with better social information processing among women who reported the least relational victimization. Most women, regardless of relational victimization history, were willing to pursue relationships with rejecting female peers. Following the social exclusion stressor, women who reported the most state anxiety were women with the lowest reported levels of relational victimization. Cortisol reactivity was the highest during the luteal phase among females with the most relational victimization. These results offer some support for the tend-and-befriend theory in terms of neuroendocrine and psychosocial responses to interpersonal distress.

Social rank, stress, fitness, and life expectancy in wild rabbits.

Wild rabbits of the two sexes have separate linear rank orders, which are established and maintained by intensive fights. The social rank of individuals strongly influence their fitness: males and females that gain a high social rank, at least at the outset of their second breeding season, have a much higher lifetime fitness than subordinate individuals. This is because of two separate factors: a much higher fecundity and annual reproductive success and a 50% longer reproductive life span. These results are in contrast to the view in evolutionary biology that current reproduction can be increased only at the expense of future survival and/or fecundity. These concepts entail higher physiological costs in high-ranking mammals, which is not supported by our data: In wild rabbits the physiological costs of social positions are caused predominantly by differential psychosocial stress responses that are much lower in high-ranking than in low-ranking individuals.

La psicología de la salud: Un enfoque multidisciplinario acerca del estrés y cambio conductal

Este articulo revisa líneas de investigación y profesionales en el campo de la psicología de la salud y la medicina conductual. Se discuten investigaciones recientes acerca del estrés, el sistema inmunológico, los cambios conducruales y la promoción de la salud. Un énfasis en el virus de inmunodeficiencia (HN/SIDA) es muy importante dado el rol de la psicología de la salud para prevenir la expansión de la epidemia y mantener una buena calidad de vida. Se han examinado las respuestas psicosociales y del sistema inmunológico de individuos antes y después de ser notificados de su status de HN y como consecuencia de los procedimientos de intervención para manejar el estrés. Se consideran los factores psicológicos y sociológicos en el desarrollo de la enfermedad.

Acute exercise: Buffering psychosocial stress responses in women.

Acute exercise: Buffering psychosocial stress responses in women.

Stress and immunity in individuals at risk for aids

AbstractWe have examined psychosocial and immune system stress responses in gay men before and after their notification of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV‐1) status and as a consequence of stress management intervention procedures. Prior to notification, early stage, asymptomatic, seropositive men displayed compromised immunity as evidenced by significant decreases in CD4+ cell number, the helper subset (CD29 + CD4 +), CD4 +/CD8 + ratio, and lymphocyte responses to mitogens. Prior to diagnosis, both seronegative and seropositive men revealed suppression of NK cell cytotoxicity and mitogen responsivity relative to matched laboratory control subjects not awaiting diagnosis. Immune suppression in these seronegative men disappeared after diagnosis, indicating its relationship to anticipation of serostatus notification. We also found that a 10‐week program of aerobic exercise or psychosocial stress management buffered the psychological impact of notification of seropositivity. The aerobic exercise program produced a significant increase in CD4+ cells for seronegatives and a smaller increase approaching significance for seropositives. The psychosocial intervention, which included relaxation training and cognitive stress management, produced significant increases in CD4+ and NKH.1 + for seronegatives and CD45R + CD4 + cell number and mitogen responsivity for seropositives. We are assessing our interventions as tools for retarding immune deterioration and disease progression in HIV‐1 seropositive individuals.

Psychosocial stress, performance, and affective and somatic responses in college students

A survey of 164 college students assessed their aptitudes, performance, outside work commitments, as well as their perception of their environment, satisfaction, and affective and somatic complaints. Several “causal themes” linking environment perceptions, performance, and affective and somatic complaints were apparent.