Subjective Measures Of Stress Research Articles

Precarious employment and stress: any differences between objective or subjective measures of stress?

Abstract Background Precarious employment is an emerging social determinant of health and health inequalities. It is known that it has an impact on health and could be a potential stressor. This study aims to examine the association between precarious employment and stress measured in two different ways: subjectively (questionnaire) and objectively (cortisol and its metabolites concentrations in hair, considered biomarkers of chronic stress). Methods Cross-sectional study in a sample of 256 workers of Barcelona, Spain, aged 25-60. We conducted a survey including questions on multidimensional precarious employment assessed by EPRES (Precarious Employment Scale), and perceived stress (measured through the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS)). We also collected hair samples to measure cortisol and metabolites concentrations. The associations between precarious employment and stress were assessed using lineal regression models, stratified by sex and adjusted for age and BMI. Results Preliminary analyses show an association between precarious employment and perceived stress for both men and women (B = 5.4,CI95%:3.8-7.1 and B = 5.4,CI95%:3.2-7.7 respectively). While we did not find significant association between precarious employment and Cortisol, we did in several biomarkers of the Hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis for the case of women: 20α-Dihydrocortisol (B = 2.4;CI95%:0.1-4.6), 20β-Dihydrocortisol (B = 1.6;CI95%:-0.4-2.7) and 11-Dehydrocorticosterone (B = 0.6;CI95%:0.0-1.2). Conclusions This study found evidence of association between precarious employment and stress. The results were more robust when stress is measured by means of subjective self-reports than by objective measures of cortisol metabolites, implying that precarious employment has a clearer impact on wellbeing and mental health than in physical and hormonal responses. Further research is needed to validate and understand differences among outcomes, as well as differences between men and women. Key messages Some evidence of association between precarious employment and stress, measured both by subjective self-reported measures and by objective measures of cortisol metabolites existed. More research is needed to understand the differences between objective and subjective stress on the impact of precarious employment and differences among indicators for men and women.

The Effects of Sensory Enrichment After a Laboratory Stressor on Human Skin Barrier Recovery in a Randomized Trial.

Environmental enrichment (EE) can reduce stress, alter immunity, and speed wound healing in animals. However, it is not known whether these effects translate to humans. This study aimed to investigate whether sensory EE could improve wound healing after a stressor in humans. A total of 105 participants underwent a tape-stripping procedure and were then stressed using a laboratory stress paradigm. After this, they were randomized to interact for 30 minutes with one of two possible sensory EE interventions (music as auditory enrichment or a Paro robot as multisensory enrichment) or to a control condition. Skin barrier recovery was measured using transepidermal water loss at baseline, after the stressor, and after the intervention. Stress was measured using self-report, heart rate, blood pressure, and salivary stress-related biological measures. Enjoyment during the intervention was measured by self-report as a possible mediator. The Paro condition had significantly improved skin barrier recovery (mean [M] = 44%, standard error [SE] = 1.92) compared with the control condition (M = 37% SE = 2.01, F(2,88) = 3.25, p = .043), both with and without controlling for covariates. The music condition did not significantly differ from the other conditions (M = 42%, SE = 1.95, p values > .05). Both objective and subjective stress measures did not significantly differ between conditions. Mediational analysis showed that enjoyment levels during the intervention period significantly mediated the relationship between condition and skin barrier recovery (z = 2.00, p = .046). Paro, or other companion robots, may be an effective form of enrichment to improve skin barrier recovery in humans after a laboratory stressor, and this effect may be due to enjoyment. Further research with patient groups is required to investigate whether Paro can help heal clinical wounds. ACTRN12618000953235, registered at https://anzctr.org.au.

The effects of acute work stress and appraisal on psychobiological stress responses in a group office environment

BackgroundThe high prevalence of office stress and its detrimental health consequences are of concern to individuals, employers and society at large. Laboratory studies investigating office stress have mostly relied on data from participants that were tested individually on abstract tasks. In this study, we examined the effect of psychosocial office stress and work interruptions on the psychobiological stress response in a realistic but controlled group office environment. We also explored the role of cognitive stress appraisal as an underlying mechanism mediating the relationship between work stressors and the stress response. Methods and MaterialsNinety participants (44 female; mean age 23.11 ± 3.80) were randomly assigned to either a control condition or one of two experimental conditions in which they were exposed to psychosocial stress with or without prior work interruptions in a realistic multi-participant laboratory setting. To induce psychosocial stress, we adapted the Trier Social Stress Test for Groups to an office environment. Throughout the experiment, we continuously monitored heart rate and heart rate variability. Participants repeatedly reported on their current mood, calmness, wakefulness and perceived stress and gave saliva samples to assess changes in salivary cortisol and salivary alpha-amylase. Additionally, cognitive appraisal of the psychosocial stress test was evaluated. ResultsOur analyses revealed significant group differences for most outcomes during or immediately after the stress test (i.e., mood, calmness, perceived stress, salivary cortisol, heart rate, heart rate variability) and during recovery (i.e., salivary cortisol and heart rate). Interestingly, the condition that experienced work interruptions showed a higher increase of cortisol levels but appraised the stress test as less threatening than individuals that experienced only psychosocial stress. Exploratory mediation analyses revealed a blunted response in subjective measures of stress, which was partially explained by the differences in threat appraisal. DiscussionThe results showed that experimentally induced work stress led to significant responses of subjective measures of stress, the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis and the autonomic nervous system. However, there appears to be a discrepancy between the psychological and biological responses to preceding work interruptions. Appraising psychosocial stress as less threatening but still as challenging could be an adaptive way of coping and reflect a state of engagement and eustress.

Perceived stress but not hair cortisol concentration is related to adult cognitive performance

Chronic stress detrimentally affects cognition but evidence from population-based studies is scarce and largely based on one-dimensional stress assessments. In this study, we aimed to investigate associations of subjective and psychological chronic stress measures with cognition in a population-based sample of adults aged 30–95 years from the Rhineland Study. Participants completed the Perceived Stress Scale (subjective measure) and a cognitive test battery (N = 1766). Hair cortisol concentration (physiological measure) was assessed by liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry in 1098 participants. Cross-sectional associations between the two measures of chronic stress and cognition were investigated using multivariable linear regression models. Subjective and physiological measures of chronic stress were not associated with each other (B = 0.005 [95 %CI = -0.005 – 0.015]). Participants with higher perceived stress and specifically lower perceived self-efficacy performed worse in all cognitive domains (effect sizes ranged from β = -0.129 [95 %CI = -0.177 – -0.080] to -0.054 [95 %CI = -0.099 – -0.009]; and from β = 0.052 [95 %CI = 0.005 – 0.098] to 0.120 [95 %CI = 0.072 – 0.167], respectively). Relationships between subjective chronic stress measures and executive functioning were stronger in men compared to women (interaction β = -0.144 [95 %CI = -0.221 – -0.067]). Relationships between perceived stress and working memory, and between perceived self-efficacy and executive functioning, processing speed, verbal episodic and working memory, increased with older age. Hair cortisol concentration was not associated with performance in any cognitive domain. Our results suggest that subjective and physiological measures capture different aspects of chronic stress in the general population.

Effect of Tranquil and Active Video Representations of an Unfamiliar Dog on Subjective Mental States

Abstract The aim of this pilot study was to examine the effects of different videos of an unfamiliar dog (tranquil and active) on subjective mental state measures. All participants watched two videos of an unfamiliar dog (tranquil and active). Subjective measures of stress, anxiety, alertness, attention, likeability, and cuteness were assessed. The results showed that the tranquil dog video significantly decreased anxiety only. Additionally, the active dog video significantly decreased stress and anxiety. Across the videos, the results showed the active dog video significantly improved subjective alertness and attention when compared with the tranquil dog video. Lastly, the active dog video was rated more likeable and cuter relative to the tranquil dog video. The practical implications of these findings could include how to improve various subjective mental states for humans in public settings (e.g., hospital) where nonhuman animals are not always allowed.

Sleep Quality Is Associated With Nighttime Heart Rate Variability In Young Adults

Heart rate variability (HRV) reflects autonomic nervous system function, and low nighttime HRV is linked to reduced parasympathetic control. Optimal parasympathetic function is important for the induction and maintenance of sleep, overall wellbeing, and is inversely associated with chronic disease. In young adults, 60% of whom report poor sleep quality, disrupted parasympathetic function may reflect suboptimal health and lifestyle behaviors. While there is an established relationship between physical activity (PA), stress, and nighttime HRV, the associations between HRV and other lifestyle-related factors such as sleep quality and social jet lag (SJL) in young adult populations are yet to be determined. PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to determine the relationship between nighttime HRV and sleep characteristics in young adults. METHODS: Healthy young adults (n=33, 18.6 ± 0.7 years, 69.6% female) wore a chest-strap heart rate monitor for 24 hours and a triaxial accelerometer on the non-dominant wrist for 7 days during free-living PA and sleep. Average sleep duration and SJL were determined from objective sleep data, with SJL calculated as the difference in hours between the midpoint of sleep on weeknights (school) and weekend (free) nights. The Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) and Perceived Stress Scale were used as subjective measures of sleep quality and stress. Nighttime HRV outcomes were calculated using R-R intervals between the hours of 1:00 AM - 5:00 AM. Linear regression assessed multivariate relationships among sleep duration, quality, SJL, and HRV while controlling for moderate-to-vigorous PA and perceived stress. RESULTS: Independent of average sleep duration and SJL, perceived sleep quality was associated with the HRV outcomes low frequency (LF; B= -10.62 ± 4.85, 95% CI: -20.56, -.67) and high frequency power (HF; B= 10.55 ± 4.84, 95% CI: .61, 20.49). Following control for PA and stress, these relationships remained significant and the association between SJL and LF/HF ratio approached significance (B= -.33 ± .18, 95% CI: -.69, .04). CONCLUSIONS: Our findings suggest that both LF and HF HRV components are related to sleep quality in young adults, highlighting a potential relationship between sleep quality and nighttime autonomic nervous system function.

Predictors of UK healthcare worker burnout during the COVID-19 pandemic.

SummaryBackgroundThe COVID-19 pandemic is putting health professionals under increasing pressure. This population is already acknowledged to be at risk of burnout. AimWe aim to provide a ‘snapshot’ of the levels of burnout, anxiety, depression and distress among healthcare workers during the COVID-19 pandemic.MethodsWe distributed an online survey via social media in June 2020 open to any UK healthcare worker. The primary outcome measure was symptoms of burnout measured using the Copenhagen Burnout Inventory. Secondary outcomes of depression, anxiety, distress and subjective measures of stress were also recorded. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was performed to identify factors associated with burnout, depression, anxiety and distress.ResultsA total of 539 persons responded to the survey; 90% female and 53% nurses. Participants with moderate-to-severe burnout were younger (49% vs. 33% under 40 years, P = 0.004), more likely to have pre-existing comorbidities (21% vs. 12%, P = 0.031), twice as likely to have been redeployed from their usual role (22% vs. 11%; P = 0.042), or to work in an area dedicated to COVID-19 patients (50% vs. 32%, P < 0.001) and were almost 4 times more likely to have previous depression (24% vs. 7%; P = 0.012).ConclusionIndependent predictors of burnout were being younger, redeployment, exposure to patients with COVID-19, being female and a history of depression. Evaluation of existing psychological support interventions is required with targeted approaches to ensure support is available to those most at risk.

Conversion and neuro-inflammation disorder observational study (CANDO). Protocol of a feasibility study

BackgroundConversion disorder (CD) or functional neurological disorder (FND) affects at least 764,000 people in the UK per year. As its origin is unknown and treatment has limited effects the condition forms a high individual and societal burden and clinically-unmet need. Research aiming to improve the outlook for people with this condition is urgently required. Exploration of the role of stress response and systemic low-grade inflammation (SLI) in CD/FND is warranted. The first step is to establish the feasibility of identifying, recruiting and assessing a clinical cohort of CD/FND patients for biomarkers of SLI, in addition to objective and subjective measures of stress and related factors. MethodsThe settings are currently clinics and services within the Tees, Esk and Wear Valleys NHS Foundation Trust (TEWV). Phase 1 and phase 3 of our work are described in this paper, assessing the feasibility of assessing a cohort of CD/FND patients. Ethical approval has been granted for this study. The study will use observational measures including a blood sample for assessment of inflammation biomarkers; hair cortisol testing; self-report measures of stress, childhood trauma and health; targeted neurocognitive functioning and psychiatric examination. The findings will be used to inform future phases of our work. DiscussionStudy outcomes will be knowledge about levels of SLI, psychological and cognitive symptoms in patients with CD/FND that is so far largely unknown. Knowledge regarding the feasibility of conducting a study in this population will also be gained. This will enable a comprehensive testing and evaluation of the proposed processes of recruitment, retention and data collection. This is hoped to lay the groundwork for future work leading to the development of novel treatments for CD/FND patients. Registrationresearchregistry.com researchregistry5289

Hippocampal seed connectome-based modeling predicts the feeling of stress

Although the feeling of stress is ubiquitous, the neural mechanisms underlying this affective experience remain unclear. Here, we investigate functional hippocampal connectivity throughout the brain during an acute stressor and use machine learning to demonstrate that these networks can specifically predict the subjective feeling of stress. During a stressor, hippocampal connectivity with a network including the hypothalamus (known to regulate physiological stress) predicts feeling more stressed, whereas connectivity with regions such as dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (associated with emotion regulation) predicts less stress. These networks do not predict a subjective state unrelated to stress, and a nonhippocampal network does not predict subjective stress. Hippocampal networks are consistent, specific to the construct of subjective stress, and broadly informative across measures of subjective stress. This approach provides opportunities for relating hypothesis-driven functional connectivity networks to clinically meaningful subjective states. Together, these results identify hippocampal networks that modulate the feeling of stress.

0045 Biobehavioral Markers for Sleep/Wake Disturbance and Fatigue in Young Childhood Brain Tumor Survivors

Abstract Introduction Survivors of childhood and adolescent brain tumors and subsequent treatment may experience many neurological processes involving the forebrain, brainstem, and hypothalamus as well as the symptom cluster of stress, sleep, and fatigue. As a result, the impact of brain tumor treatment (chemotherapy/biotherapy, radiotherapy, and surgery) may have lasting biobehavioral effects. Description of symptoms during early survivorship is not always evident in the literature. Methods Convenience sampling and the following inclusion criteria were utilized: brain tumor survivors ages 8–17 years; ≥6 months, &amp;lt;6 years from completion of treatment; disease free or stable disease. Participants completed polysomnography (PSG) followed by a multiple sleep latency test (MSLT), and subjective measures of sleep, fatigue, stress, and pubertal status. Collection of salivary biomarkers for stress (cortisol) and sleep (melatonin) was completed the evening of and morning after the PSG. Results Analysis of the first 12 participants (5 males; 3 Hispanic/Latino; average age 14 years; 9–72 months post treatment) revealed mean (minutes) total sleep time (TST) 442, sleep latency (SL) 42 and waking (WASO) 88; sleep efficiency (SE) mean 83%, There were large magnitude correlations between several variables of interest, notably PM Cortisol with fatigue, TST (r= .472; -.453); AM Cortisol with SL (r=.479); AM Melatonin with SE, SL, WASO (r= -.459; .692; .458). Average AM melatonin level (26.6 pg/dl) was higher than PM (6.66 pg/dl). Seven participants were diagnosed with clinical sleep disorders, including one with narcolepsy and two with hypersomnia. Conclusion During early survivorship after pediatric brain tumor treatment, survivors may be at high risk for sleep/wake disturbance (SWD). Morning melatonin and biomarker correlations with sleep and fatigue in this sample warrant further exploration and may be related to first night effect versus circadian rhythm differences or clinical sleep disorder. Recommendations for future practice include developmentally matched protocols and routine screening of biobehavioral markers to assess risk for stress, SWD, and fatigue. Support 1. Center for Oncology Education and Research Harris College of Nursing &amp; Health Sciences Texas Christian University 2. Neuro-Oncology Program Hematology/Oncology Center Cook Children’s Health Care System 3. Nursing Research and Evidence-Based Practice James A. “Buddy” Davidson Endowed Fund

S225. STRESS SENSITIZATION IN INDIVIDUALS WITH SUBCLINICAL SYMPTOMS INDICATIVE OF PSYCHOPATHOLOGY

BackgroundRepeated exposure to stressors can sensitize the stress system and in turn propel the development of various psychiatric disorders. Stress sensitization can be identified through stress reactivity patterns. Individuals at risk of developing psychosis for example, already show aberrant patterns of daily stress reactivity prior to clinical diagnosis, with blunted physiological responses to mild stressors that could be indicative of a dysregulation of the hypothalamic pituitary adrenocortical axis. In parallel, while they do not show significant physiological responses to the stressor, they report significant increases in negative affect (NA) ensuing from it. This study aims to test whether sensitization can already be observed in healthy volunteers exhibiting only subclinical symptoms.MethodsThirty, first year students took part in two laboratory sessions where stress was induced using a modified version of the Montreal Imaging Stress Task (MIST), one week apart. Baseline measures of psychopathology were collected using the Symptom Checklist 90 (SCL-90). During the laboratory sessions, continuous ECG signals were collected, as well as five subjective stress measures per session. We calculated average heart rate (HR) and heart rate variability (HRV) per condition. Multilevel models testing the three-way interaction between psychopathology, session, and condition with individual data points nested within days were used to assess overall psychopathology and more specifically subclinical symptoms of psychosis in repeated stress reactivity.ResultsMixed models investigating repeated stress in overall psychopathology indicates a significant three way interaction for HR (β = -.15, SE=.01, p< .01), and HRV (β = -.01, SE=.04, p= .02), with individuals scoring lower on the scl-90 exhibiting comparable increases in HR and decreases in HRV on both sessions. In contrast, individuals scoring higher on the scale show a blunted response on the second session compared to the first. Analyses with stress (β = .03, SE= .01, p= .01), and NA (β = .06, SE=.29, p= .03) show that generally the stressor elicited a mild negative subjective response with a decrease in stress and NA that was comparable on both sessions for individuals scoring lower on the scl-90. No subjective reactivity was reported on the second session for participants scoring high on the scale. Likewise, models that focused on subclinical psychotic symptoms found similar significant interactions. In the same way as in the analyses with psychopathology we find significant interactions for stress (β = .36, SE= .11, p< .01), NA (β = .06, SE=.03, p= .03) HR (β = -1.08, SE=.13 p< .01), and HRV (β = 3.72, SE=.39, p< .01). Analyses show the same comparable patterns of reactivity in both sessions for participants low in psychosis, and a blunted response on the second session for participants high in psychosis.DiscussionSymptoms of psychopathology and more specifically psychosis are related to blunted stress reactivity during a second exposure to the same stressor. Psychopathological vulnerability may be reflected in a blunting response to repeated stress in healthy individuals with subclinical symptoms. Findings suggest that dysregulation in the stress system may be present long before individual complaints, further highlighting the need for early intervention.

The Effects of Visual Displays in Attenuating Discrepancies Between Self-Reported and Physiological Indexes of Stress

Abstract. This study examined whether the relationship between subjective and physiological outcomes of stress, and the responsivity to stressors, are affected by whether participants can see a visual display of their physiological output. Participants were randomly assigned to have a visible view of their physiological output readings, or to a condition in which physiological output readings were out of view. Participants individually completed a 30-min laboratory study including the modified Trier Social Stress Task. Both physiological markers of stress (heart rate and blood pressure) and subjective evaluations of stress (visual analog scale) were measured. Results found little congruency across subjective and physiological measures of stress. The visible visual display condition had elevated physiological arousal, while no group differences were observed in self-reported stress. Findings from the study provide insight into the use of visual physiological displays and hold practical implications for both the measurement of stress in research, and the development of wearable technologies without accompanying response strategies.

Psychophysiological Stress Indicators of Heart Rate Variability and Electrodermal Activity With Application in Healthcare Simulation Research.

Psychological stress arises from a stressor placed on an individual that leads to both emotional and physiological responses. The latter is referred to as psychophysiological stress. Healthcare simulation provides a platform to investigate stress psychobiology and its effects on learning and performance. However, psychophysiological stress measures may be underused in healthcare simulation research. The inclusion of such measures with subjective measures of stress in healthcare simulation research provides a more complete picture of the stress response, thereby furthering the understanding of stress and its impact on learning and performance. The goals of this article were to review 2 commonly used psychophysiological stress measures involving heart rate variability and electrodermal activity reflecting sweat gland activity and to demonstrate their utility in an example pilot study in healthcare simulation research.

Increased Posterior Cingulate Functional Connectivity Following 6-Month High-Dose B-Vitamin Multivitamin Supplementation: A Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Trial.

B vitamins are essential for optimal brain and body function, and are particularly important for cortical metabolic processes that have downstream effects on mitigating oxidative stress. Oxidative stress has been linked to poor psychological outcomes including psychological distress, which has wide-reaching implications for the community and the workplace. Given work-related stress has been associated with poor mental health outcomes, high-dose B vitamin supplementation may be effective in improving brain function and psychological outcomes via attenuation of oxidative stress. This randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study investigated psychological outcomes following 6-month supplementation of a high-B-vitamin multivitamin in a large sample of healthy adults (n = 108, aged 30–70 years), as well as changes in default mode network functional connectivity in a subset of the original sample (n = 28). Improvements in occupational stress, general health, perceived stress, depressive symptoms, and mood profiles were identified for both active and placebo groups over time (p < 0.05 corrected). Seed-based functional connectivity analysis centered on the posterior cingulate cortex (PCC) showed that connectivity between the PCC and the caudate increased for the active treatment group, but decreased for the placebo group (p < 0.05 corrected). These findings reveal a substantial intervention effect for both active and placebo treatments, which could in part be associated with a placebo effect in subjective measures. There was, however, a significant treatment effect in the objective measure of functional connectivity, suggesting that reduced psychological stress and high-B-vitamin multivitamin supplementation may lead to an increase in DMN and caudate functional connectivity, which might reflect a strengthening of neurocircuitry within areas associated with reward and emotion at rest. Future studies should consider a placebo run-in methodology to reduce the placebo effect on the subjective measures of stress.

Objective and subjective stress, personality, and allostatic load.

IntroductionDespite the understanding of allostatic load (AL) as a consequence of ongoing adaptation to stress, studies of the stress–AL association generally focus on a narrow conceptualization of stress and have thus far overlooked potential confounding by personality. The present study examined the cross‐sectional association of objective and subjective stress with AL, controlling for Big Five personality traits.MethodsParticipants comprised 5,512 members of the Copenhagen Aging and Midlife Biobank aged 49–63 years (69% men). AL was measured as a summary index of 14 biomarkers of the inflammatory, cardiovascular, and metabolic system. Objective stress was assessed as self‐reported major life events in adult life. Subjective stress was assessed as perceived stress within the past four weeks.ResultsBoth stress measures were positively associated with AL, with a slightly stronger association for objective stress. Adjusting for personality traits did not significantly change these associations.ConclusionsThe results suggest measures of objective and subjective stress to have independent predictive validity in the context of personality. Further, it is discussed how different operationalizations of stress and AL may account for some of the differences in observed stress–AL associations.

Functional Neurological Disorder Responds Favorably to Interdisciplinary Rehabilitation Models

Functional neurological disorder (FND) is difficult to treat and costly. Interdisciplinary chronic painrehabilitation programs (iCPRPs) are multidimensional functional restoration interventions for pain; their impact on FND specifically has not been assessed. The purpose of this study was to assess iCPRP's impact on functioning in FND. Data were examined retrospectively from anInstitutional Review Board-approved registry capturing admission and discharge data from patients participatingin an outpatient iCPRP. Subjective measures included pain-related disability, depression, anxiety, and stress scores, whereas objective measures included physical functioning measures (timed up and go, stair climbing test, and 6-min walk test). Pre-iCPRP and post-iCPRP measures were compared using a paired t-test approach. Forty-nine FND patients completed care and showed pre-measures and postmeasures. Statistically significant reductions in subjective measures of pain-related disability (46.40-20.91; P<0.001, d=1.92), depression (20.38-4.81; P<0.001, d=1.53), anxiety (15.09-6.29; P<0.001, d=1.18), and stress (21.96-9.70; P<0.001, d=1.21) scores were observed. Statistically significant changes in objective measures of mean timed up and go scores (decreased from 15.96 to 8.87 s), stair climbing test scores (increased from 40.98 to 71.93 steps), and mean 6-minute walk test scores (increased from 0.21 to 0.30 miles) were also observed across the group. While preliminary and based on a small patient sample, these findings support the use of interdisciplinary care models for FND treatment. Clinical and investigational implications are explored.

Do I Need to Be Positive to Be Happy? Considering the Role of Self-Esteem, Life Satisfaction, and Psychological Distress in Portuguese Adolescents' Subjective Happiness.

This study aims to analyze the relationships between gender, age, positive (self-esteem, life satisfaction) and negative/distress psychological variables (anxiety, depression, stress), and subjective happiness. A total of 910 adolescents (51.0% girls, mean age of 13.89 years) answered measures of subjective happiness, life satisfaction, self-esteem, depression, anxiety, and stress. Girls showed lower life satisfaction and self-esteem and greater distress symptoms than boys. Older age was associated with lower subjective happiness, life satisfaction, and self-esteem and greater distress symptoms. Being girl, younger, having lower levels of depressive symptoms, and higher levels of life satisfaction and self-esteem were associated with greater subjective happiness. Self-esteem was a moderator between depressive symptoms and subjective happiness, and stress and subjective happiness. Life satisfaction was a moderator between depression and subjective happiness. Results highlight the role of life satisfaction and self-esteem as a positive functioning dimension for adolescents to manage, regulate, or minimize their psychological distress and to build higher levels of subjective happiness as a source of positive mental health.

Perceived stress and reference ranges of hair cortisol in healthy adolescents.

BackgroundChronic stress during adolescence has usually been evaluated through subjective measures, leaving aside objective measures such as hair cortisol concentrations. Therefore, the aim of this study was to provide reference ranges for hair cortisol concentrations by sex and age and to study the relationship between subjective and objective measures of stress and temporal stability.MethodsThe participants were 170 adolescents aged between 12 and 14 years (mean = 12.78 years; standard deviation = 0.71 years; 52.40% girls) who completed the Perceived Stress Scale 4 and had their hair sampled.ResultsThe results revealed hair cortisol concentrations ranging from 0.07 pg/mg to 9.54 pg/mg. Subjective and objective measures of stress were not related, nor was there intraindividual stability of the hair cortisol concentrations. Girls had higher hair cortisol concentrations, and there were no age differences.ConclusionsThis research provides cortisol reference values for adolescents that will allow the early detection of chronic stress. Such detection methods make it possible to prevent problems arising from stress because we can act more quickly and the treatments will be more effective. The study suggests that there is no relationship between perceived and objective stress; while perceived stress remained stable, the levels of hair cortisol were increased at 6 months. Despite the interesting findings of the study, there are some limitations: the sample was not obtained through probabilistic sampling, the age range was narrow, and some demographic, anthropomorphic and clinical factors are missing, which make the generalization of results difficult.

Task Engagement and the Vigilance Decrement Revisited: Expanding Upon the Work of Joel S. Warm Using a Semantic Vigilance Paradigm.

The goal of the present study is twofold: (1) demonstrate the importance of measuring and understanding the relationship between task engagement and vigilance performance, and (2) celebrate the work of Joel S. Warm and expand upon his previous research in two semantic vigilance paradigms. The importance of measuring task engagement in cognitive and sensory vigilance tasks has been well documented. But to date, our understanding of the effects of task engagement on semantic vigilance performance is limited. Seventy-three participants completed either a standard semantic vigilance task or a lure semantic vigilance task. Participants also completed subjective measures of workload and stress. The results indicated that changes in task engagement are associated with correct detection performance. Changes in task engagement may be related to individual differences in the distress associated with performing semantic vigilance tasks. In line with the work of Warm and his colleagues (Dember, Warm, Bowers, & Lanzetta, 1984), participants who reported increased task engagement after the vigil outperformed their peers who noted decreased task engagement upon conclusion of the task. Participants reporting increases in engagement with the semantic vigilance tasks also reported significantly greater distress pretask, but not posttask. Instead, increases in postvigil distress were driven by the task to which participants were assigned, not task engagement. The present study has several implications for applied settings that involve long duration semantic processing or semantic target identification. Such real-world tasks include aviation, cyber threat detection and analysis, driving, and reading.

The psychometric properties and temporal dynamics of subjective stress, retrospectively assessed by different informants and questionnaires, and hair cortisol concentrations

To date, there is only scarce evidence for a considerable association of subjective and objective stress measures, which might be attributable to method bias (e.g., confounding) and/or asynchrony of their temporal changes. To validate different subjective stress measures by a physiological measure of long-term stress (hair cortisol concentrations; HCC), 37 heterosexual couples (N = 74) completed a 12-week internet-based assessment protocol comprised of a weekly hassle scale (WHS; once per week), a perceived stress scale (PSS; once per month), and a chronic stress scale (TICS; once after three months). Partners provided vicarious stress ratings. When averaged across time, self-reported WHS significantly predicted HCC (r = 0.27), whereas the PSS and TICS did not (r < 0.22). Dynamic factor analysis (i.e., state-space modelling) confirmed that WHS was the most valid indicator of subjective stress, explaining up to 16% of the variance in HCC (r = 0.37) with a time lag of ~4 weeks. This temporally delayed effect of subjective stress is consistent with the presumed retrospective character of HCC, but also suggests that the majority of variance in hair cortisol is attributable to other causes than subjective stress such as individual disposition to display increased adrenocortical activity.