Anna C Phillips

Publications (106) View all

• Article: Do Symptoms of Depression Predict Telomere Length? Evidence From the West of Scotland Twenty-07 Study.

  Anna C Phillips, Tony Robertson, Douglas Carroll, Geoff Der, Paul G Shiels, Liane McGlynn, Michaela Benzeval
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  ABSTRACT: Objective Psychological factors such as the stress of caregiving are emerging as predictors of telomere length, an index of biological aging. However, although lifetime major depressive disorder is associated with shorter telomeres, less is known about depressive symptoms. Depression and depressive symptoms are associated with a range of morbidities and mortality, but the extent to which they predict biological aging is unclear. The present study examined participants in the West of Scotland Twenty-07 Study across three age cohorts and four waves of data collection from 1992/1993 to 2007/2008.Methods Participants were 37, 57, and 76 years old at final data collection. Depressive symptoms were measured using the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale at each time point. Telomere length was assessed from 1063 blood samples collected at the final wave in 2007/2008 for respondents who also had depression data.ResultsAverage depression symptoms (β= -.12, p = .047) and their change over time (β = -.12, p = .031) were negatively associated with telomere length, but only in the youngest cohort. Depressive symptoms were not cross sectionally associated with telomere length in 2007 to 2008 (β= -.03, p = .45). In the youngest cohort only, depressive symptoms assessed in 1995 to 1997 and 2000 to 2004 were associated with shorter telomere length (β = .14 [p = .046] and β = .18 [p = .012], respectively), but not 1992 to 1993 or 2007 to 2008; associations in the middle- and older-aged cohorts were nonsignificant.Conclusions Depressive symptoms are longitudinally associated with shorter telomere length, but only in younger adults.
  Psychosomatic Medicine 03/2013; · 3.97 Impact Factor
• Article: The other side of the coin: Blunted cardiovascular and cortisol reactivity are associated with negative health outcomes.

  Anna C Phillips, Annie T Ginty, Brian M Hughes
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  ABSTRACT: A cornerstone for research into the link between stress and health has been the reactivity hypothesis; cardiovascular reactivity to psychological stressors, if prolonged or exaggerated, can promote the development of cardiovascular disease. However, it has recently been argued that low or blunted reactivity is also associated with negative health outcomes. As such, in this special issue we present further evidence implicating that cardiovascular and stress hormone responses to acute stress at the other end of the response spectrum can also be considered a pathway to ill health. In this introductory article, we explore and review the origins of and potential mechanisms underlying blunted responses to acute stress. In so doing, we aim to highlight: what is currently known regarding this new conceptualization of the reactivity hypothesis; the potential explanations for blunted reactivity; the pathways underlying associations with health outcomes; and where this field is headed in terms of developing our understanding of the link between reactivity and health.
  International journal of psychophysiology: official journal of the International Organization of Psychophysiology 02/2013; · 3.05 Impact Factor
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  Available from: Stuart W G Derbyshire

  Article: Blunted cardiac stress reactivity relates to neural hypoactivation.

  Annie T Ginty, Peter J Gianaros, Stuart W G Derbyshire, Anna C Phillips, Douglas Carroll
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  ABSTRACT: The present study compared neural activity in participants with blunted (N = 9) or exaggerated (N = 8) cardiac stress reactions. Neural activity was recorded with fMRI while participants performed a validated stress task and control task. Exaggerated reactors exhibited significant increases in heart rate from control to stress task, whereas blunted reactors had no change in heart rate. Blunted reactors also had reduced activation in the anterior midcingulate cortex and insula compared to exaggerated reactors during the stress condition, and a greater deactivation in the amygdala and posterior cingulate. The biological differences between groups in response to the stress task could not be explained by subjective measures of engagement, stressfulness, or difficulty. This study supports the notion that blunted peripheral physiological stress reactivity may be a marker of a corresponding under-recruitment of brain systems during behavioral states requiring motivated action.
  Psychophysiology 01/2013; · 3.29 Impact Factor
• Article: Low forced expiratory volume is associated with blunted cardiac reactions to acute psychological stress in a community sample of middle-aged men and women.

  Douglas Carroll, Anna C Phillips, Geoff Der, Kate Hunt, Adam Bibbey, Michaela Benzeval, Annie T Ginty
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  ABSTRACT: It has been argued recently that blunted cardiovascular reactions to acute psychological stress have adverse behavioural and health corollaries that reflect dysregulation of the neural systems that support motivation. We examined the association between cardiovascular reactions to a standard stress task, the paced auditory serial arithmetic rest, and forced expiratory volume in one second, an effort, hence motivation, dependent assessment of lung function measured by spirometry. Low forced expiratory volume, expressed as a ratio to height squared was associated with blunted heart rate, but not blood pressure, stress reactivity, r=.17, p<.001. The association survived adjustment for smoking, a range of anthropometric and sociodemographic covariates, resting heart rate and stress task performance, β=.11, p=.005. As such, our results provide support for the hypothesis that blunted stress reactivity may be a peripheral marker of a dysfunction in the brain systems that support motivated behaviour.
  International journal of psychophysiology: official journal of the International Organization of Psychophysiology 10/2012; · 3.05 Impact Factor
• Article: Reduced neutrophil superoxide production among healthy older adults in response to acute psychological stress.

  Riyad Khanfer, Douglas Carroll, Janet M Lord, Anna C Phillips
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  ABSTRACT: Ageing is associated with higher morbidity and mortality, and declining immune function, termed immunesenescence. The present study examined the effects of an acute laboratory psychological stress task on innate immunity, specifically neutrophil function, among older adults. The two functional assays used were phagocytosis of Escherichiacoli and stimulated superoxide production. Participants were 17 (11 female) older adults (mean age 75.7, SD=7.06years). Blood samples to determine neutrophil function by flow cytometry were taken at the end of resting baseline, during an acute stress task and during recovery. The stress task was an 8-minute time-pressured mental arithmetic challenge with social evaluation. There was a significant reduction in neutrophil superoxide production, p=.017, η(2)(p)=.240, associated with the stress task relative to baseline, but no effect on phagocytosis. The results of this study could contribute to explaining the increased risk of infection in older adults, particularly those subject to frequent stress exposures. Future research is needed to explore the underlying mechanisms of acute stress effects on human neutrophil function in older adults in greater detail.
  International journal of psychophysiology: official journal of the International Organization of Psychophysiology 10/2012; · 3.05 Impact Factor