Ann-Marie Creaven

Unemployment is associated with lower cortisol awakening and blunted dehydroepiandrosterone responses

Previous research has investigated the endocrinological consequences of unemployment as a likely pathway behind chronic stress and negative health outcomes. Despite these early attempts at delineating the neuroendocrine consequences of the chronic stress experienced by the unemployed, identifying a consistent and stable effect has remained elusive. Here we sought to strengthen existing knowledge into the effect of the stress of employment status on cortisol by improving on the methodological weaknesses of earlier studies and extend this line of enquiry by measuring the steroid hormone Dehydroepiandrosterone-Sulfate (DHEAS). Saliva samples were collected from unemployed and employed participants at four time points across two days. As expected, unemployed people reported higher stress, lower social support and lower self-esteem. Unexpectedly, the unemployed showed lower overall cortisol output, a likely consequence of a higher cortisol awakening response (CAR) in the employed. However, they also had a higher DHEA output across the day, albeit the diurnal pattern across the day was more dysregulated compared to that seen in those employed with a blunted response evident in the evening; the cortisol:DHEAS ratio was also lower in the unemployed group. Further, these hormone differences were correlated with self-esteem and stress. Taken together these results suggest that the relationship between employment status and endocrine responses is far more complicated than previously thought. We have shown for the first time that unemployed people have a lower CAR, but also show a blunted DHEA response relative to those employed and we suggest that this may be a feature of chronic stress exposure or perhaps dependent on the prevailing socio-economic context.

Cardiovascular responses to mental activation of social support schemas.

While perceived social support appears to be associated with buffered cardiovascular reactivity to short-term stressors, its impact on cardiovascular recovery is less clear. This relationship might be affected by trait hostility, with hostile individuals benefiting less from social support. However, despite the possibility that support provision might enhance well-being, limited empirical work has manipulated this in a laboratory context. The present study sought to investigate whether mentally activated support provision and support receipt influenced cardiovascular recovery from cognitive stress. Systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure, heart rate, cardiac output, and total peripheral resistance were monitored continuously in a laboratory following exposure to a short-term cognitive stressor. Mixed factorial analyses of variance revealed that inducing thoughts of support provision resulted in elevated post-stressor systolic and diastolic blood pressure responses (p=.03; p=.004) in comparison to thoughts of support receipt or non-supportive social contact. Furthermore, these elevations were most pronounced for individuals high in trait hostility. From this study, support provision when already cognitively and physiologically stressed appears to be deleterious rather than beneficial for cardiovascular function. Moreover, individuals high in trait hostility may be particularly disadvantaged by providing support in everyday life.

Loneliness and acute stress reactivity: A systematic review of psychophysiological studies

Physiological reactivity to acute stress has been proposed as a potential biological mechanism by which loneliness may lead to negative health outcomes such as cardiovascular disease. This review was conducted to investigate the association between loneliness and physiological responses to acute stress. A series of electronic databases were systematically searched (PsycARTICLES, PsycINFO, Medline, CINAHL Plus, EBSCOhost, PubMed, SCOPUS, Web of Science, Science Direct) for relevant studies, published up to October 2016. Eleven studies were included in the review. Overall, the majority of studies reported positive associations between loneliness and acute stress responses, such that higher levels of loneliness were predictive of exaggerated physiological reactions. However, in a few studies, loneliness was also linked with decreased stress responses for particular physiological outcomes, indicating the possible existence of blunted relationships. There was no clear pattern suggesting any sex- or stressor-based differences in these associations. The available evidence supports a link between loneliness and atypical physiological reactivity to acute stress. A key finding of this review was that greater levels of loneliness are associated with exaggerated blood pressure and inflammatory reactivity to acute stress. However, there was some indication that loneliness may also be related to blunted cardiac, cortisol, and immune responses. Overall, this suggests that stress reactivity could be one of the biological mechanisms through which loneliness impacts upon health.

Social connectedness and depression: Is there added value in volunteering?

The associations between volunteering and health outcomes are well established. However, little research has identified the unique association between volunteering and health outcomes over and above the contribution of related social connectedness factors, such as social contact, group or organization membership, and social support provision; variables also implicated in health outcomes. Using large-scale cross-national cross-sectional survey data from the European Social Survey, this study models the association between volunteering and depressive symptoms. Models are conducted with and without adjustment for sociodemographic variables and for a more comprehensive range of social connectedness factors than has been included in previous studies. The findings confirm previous studies demonstrating a link between volunteering and depressive symptoms. However, adjusted analyses indicate that this association can be explained by social connectedness and sociodemographic variables. The findings suggest that studies of volunteering and health outcomes should consider the broader social context in which the volunteer is located, as social connectedness and sociodemographic correlates of volunteering might be more closely tied to mental health than volunteering itself.

PERCEIVED SOCIAL SUPPORT PREDICTS LOWER CARDIOVASCULAR REACTIVITY TO STRESS IN OLDER ADULTS

The benefits of perceived social support for physical and psychological health are well-established. However, little research has explored associations between perceived social support and cardiovascular reactivity in older adults. This exploratory study recruited a sample of older adults (Mage=69years, SD=5.62) and examined quality and quantity of perceived social support as predictors of cardiovascular reactivity to laboratory-based stress (N=39 participants) and ambulatory cardiovascular activity in everyday life (n=28). The results suggest that quality, but not quantity, of perceived social support predicts reduced blood pressure reactivity to stress in the laboratory. Although quality of support was not associated with ambulatory blood pressure, results suggest that quantity of daily social support may be associated with higher ambulatory heart rate, but not with social contact during measurement. This preliminary study extends prior work on social support and cardiovascular function to a group of older adults in both laboratory and field settings. Challenges for much-needed future research in this area are discussed.

Social support and trait personality are independently associated with resting cardiovascular function in women

OBJECTIVES Social support is thought to positively influence appraisals of stressors and coping resources, thereby attenuating the harmful effects of stress. Notably, perceived available support (rather than actually received support) is believed to benefit well-being independent of the sense of obligation or threats to self-esteem that receiving support may entail. This study examined whether perceived support levels were associated with reduced cardiovascular levels, an important predictor of cardiovascular disease risk, independent of broad trait personality variables frequently reported to overlap with perceived support. In doing so, we sought to determine whether the effects of perceived support are independent of links between personality and social support. DESIGN A cross-sectional design was employed. METHODS Resting cardiovascular levels were measured using a Finometer in a sample of healthy women (N = 145). The Short-Form Social Support Questionnaire and the Revised Eysencks Personality Questionnaire were used to assess support levels and personality. Regression was used to compare associations with psychometric indices of support (namely, perceived network size and perceived satisfaction with support) and personality (psychoticism, extraversion and neuroticism). RESULTS Support independently predicted systolic blood pressure (SBP; p = .03) and HR (p = .02) when personality was controlled for, while personality also predicted SBP (p = .01) and DBP (p = .02). Support effects were not mediated by personality. CONCLUSIONS The findings corroborate previous research indicating links between support and resting cardiovascular levels and additionally demonstrate these to be independent of associations between support and personality.

Evaluating personality as a moderator of the association between life events stress and cardiovascular reactivity to acute stress

The present study investigated the possible interaction between life events stress and personality in predicting cardiovascular stress responses. Participants (N = 184) completed psychometric measures of life event stress and personality styles and had cardiovascular responses monitored during a standardised stress testing protocol. In adjusted models, the observed blunted association between life event stress and SBP and DBP was moderated by openness; this was more evident at -1SD below the mean openness value. Further, the association between life event stress and TPR vascular resistance was found to be moderated by conscientiousness. In particular, we found conscientiousness at both the mean and 1SD above the mean buffered against the negative impact of life stress on TPR reactivity. The findings are discussed in relation to theory and future directions.

Performance feedback, self-esteem, and cardiovascular adaptation to recurring stressors

ABSTRACT Background and Objectives: This study sought to examine the effects of performance feedback and individual differences in self-esteem on cardiovascular habituation to repeat stress exposure. Methods: Sixty-six university students (n = 39 female) completed a self-esteem measure and completed a cardiovascular stress-testing protocol involving repeated exposure to a mental arithmetic task. Cardiovascular functioning was sampled across four phases: resting baseline, initial stress exposure, a recovery period, and repeated stress exposure. Participants were randomly assigned to receive fictional positive feedback, negative feedback, or no feedback following the recovery period. Results: Negative feedback was associated with a sensitized blood pressure response to a second exposure of the stress task. Positive feedback was associated with decreased cardiovascular and psychological responses to a second exposure. Self-esteem was also found to predict reactivity and this interacted with the type of feedback received. Conclusions: These findings suggest that negative performance feedback sensitizes cardiovascular reactivity to stress, whereas positive performance feedback increases both cardiovascular and psychological habituation to repeat exposure to stressors. Furthermore, an individual’s self-esteem also appears to influence this process.

Restricted reproductive rights and risky sexual behaviour: How political disenfranchisement relates to women’s sense of control, well-being and sexual health:

Few studies have investigated the role of disenfranchisement and denial of agency in women’s sexual health. To address this, a cross-sectional study of disenfranchisement, control (general and reproductive control) and health was conducted in Ireland, where abortion is severely restricted. Multiple mediation models (N = 513 women) indicated that general but not reproductive control mediates the association between disenfranchisement and psychological well-being. Additionally, serial mediation shows disenfranchisement is associated with lower sense of control, which is linked to poorer well-being and risky sexual behaviour. Disenfranchisement arising from socio-political contexts may have important implications for women’s sexual health.

Loneliness and cardiovascular reactivity to acute stress in younger adults

Loneliness is connected to poorer health outcomes with stress reactivity proposed as an underlying mechanism. The present study explored whether the relationship between loneliness and cardiovascular reactivity (CVR) varies across acute psychological stress tasks. Eighty-eight healthy younger adults completed a psychometric measure of loneliness and participated in a standardised cardiovascular stress-testing protocol, with a public speaking and a mental arithmetic task. Cardiovascular functioning was assessed before and during the acute stress exposure. Higher levels of loneliness significantly predicted lower total peripheral resistance (TPR) reactivity to the public speaking task but not to the arithmetic challenge. This suggests that the effect of loneliness on cardiovascular reactivity to acute stress may vary by stressor type. These findings are discussed in relation to future research.