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The role of DHEA in relation to problem solving and academic performance
Abstract
Dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) has been correlated with lower susceptibility to anxiety and mood disturbance. Since coping styles have been shown to be a critical component of academic achievement, we aimed to assess the relationship between DHEA and coping mechanisms in college students. Participants were recruited and tested twice, one week apart. Cardiovascular measurements and saliva samples were taken for each participant. The behavioral task consisted of a set of anagrams of increasing difficulty (possible to impossible). American College Testing (ACT) scores, number of college courses failed and dropped along with current grade point average (GPA) were recorded. Results indicated that successfully coping with challenging tasks is a function of behavioral flexibility and physiological neuroprotection. When presented with challenging tasks, individuals who vary their behavioral response to fit the task's demands have the lowest probability of failing the task. The same individuals also have higher levels of resiliency hormones, demonstrated by a lower ratio of cortisol versus DHEA levels.
... In particular, it would be fruitful to understand what genetic and personality characteristics place students at risk for unhealthy physiological stress responses and what characteristics foster resilience when faced with similar, stressful communicative circumstances. For example, Wemm, Koone, Blough, Mewaldt, and Bardi (2010) argued that certain personalities of students are more likely to succeed at school (e.g., less likely to fail classes, less likely to drop class, and more likely to have a higher grade point average) than others because of the way they proactively and positively approach life. What is particularly interesting, however, is that they go a step further and suggest that these students, when combined with "protective" physiological response hormones, will better adapt to stressful classroom situations. ...
... DHEA has been shown to increase during stressful situations like public speaking (Shirtcliff, Zahn-Waxler, Klimes-Dougan, & Slattery, 2007); it is released at the same time as cortisol and has been shown to mitigate some of the harmful effects of cortisol (Floyd & Riforgiate, 2009). Wemm et al. (2010) found that students who were most likely to succeed in college were those who adapted their problem-solving strategy to a particular challenge task and who had a balance of DHEA and cortisol. To the contrary, students who were doing poorly in college tended to get easily frustrated and rejected the challenge task and also had a greater propensity for allostatic load. ...
... Other research has shown that people who are generally high in social anxiety tend to become more anxious before, during, and after speaking events (Bosch et al., 2009). What was interesting about the Wemm et al. (2010) study, however, is that they were looking beyond trait anxiety to a broader set of behaviors and how these behaviors interacted with "resiliency" hormones to predict problem solving. Future research in instructional communication could examine the resiliency characteristics of students and how they intersect with biology and physiological stress responses to predict student outcomes. ...
Celebrating 100 years of the National Communication Association necessitates that, as we commemorate our past, we also look toward our future. As part of a larger conversation about the future of instructional communication, this essay reinvestigates the importance of integrating biosocial approaches into instructional communication research. In so doing, a biosocial approach is defined, and the benefits of such an approach are discussed. We then set an agenda for how biosocial research can be conducted in instructional communication, focusing largely on salivary hormone studies examining stress. Examples are offered surrounding student-based outcomes, teachers' roles in affecting student outcomes, and instructional communication processes in nontraditional classrooms. The essay concludes with suggestions for additional resources and the encouragement of cross-disciplinary research.
... Distress tolerance has been found to correlate negatively with substance use and positively with abstinence duration among individuals using alcohol (Daughters et al., 2009). We predicted that students with higher levels of cortisol in comparison to DHEA levels would show more frustration during the impossible task (Bardi, Koone, Mewaldt, & O'Connor, 2011;Wemm, Koone, Blough, Mewaldt, & Bardi, 2010). We also predicted that college students who drank to cope with stress would have significantly higher basal levels of cortisol and DHEA, an indication of impaired physiological coping mechanisms (Bardi et al., 2011;Charney, 2004;Maninger et al., 2009). ...
... Eighty-eight female students (mean age ¼ 20.0 AE 4.6 years) were recruited as a part of a larger pilot study on the psychobiological correlates of problematic drinking, academic success, and the stress response during an acute stimulus (Bardi et al., 2011;Wemm et al., 2010;). We selected female students since they have been found to be particularly affected by the negative consequences of drinking (LaBrie et al., 2012;Norberg et al., 2010). ...
... Behavioral responses to the behavioral task, described below, were videotaped for all participants. Displacement activities are behavioral patterns occurring in situations in which one would not expect to observe them (McFarland, 1966), such as when students fidget with a pen or adjust their hair during a test (Troisi, 2002;Wemm et al., 2010). A vast literature on both human and nonhuman primates has consistently found that displacement activities and behavioral changes can provide a good indicator of psychosocial stress (Pico-Alfonso et al., 2007;Troisi, 2002;Wemm et al., 2010). ...
Problematic drinking is a widespread problem among college students, and can contribute to alcohol dependence during later adulthood, particularly among females. The current study assessed vulnerability for alcohol-related consequences by comparing self-reported drinking with coping styles and physiological and behavioral stress responses during a challenging task. Cardiovascular measurements and saliva samples were taken from 88 female students at the beginning of the experiment and after the task. Hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) activity was measured by assessing cortisol and dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) salivary levels. The behavioral task consisted of a set of three anagrams of increasing difficulty, the last of which had no possible solution, to test the distress tolerance of the participants. Results showed that the majority of participants (70%) reported drinking in the six months prior to data collection, most of whom reported at least one incident of binge drinking. Excessive alcohol use was related to an impaired physiological response to stress during the impossible task. College students who drank to cope with stress had significantly higher basal levels of cortisol and DHEA, an indication of HPA axis over-regulation, while their stress response remained remarkably flat. Self-reported consequences of drinking were related to motives for drinking and lower DHEA levels. Regression analysis indicated that higher cortisol levels mediated the relationship between motives for drinking and problematic drinking.
... DHEA is released during a stress response to inhibit both catecholamine upregulation in the adrenal medulla, as well as many of the negative effects of glucocorticoids in various tissues, including inflammation dysregulation in the TME [22,26,27]. Potentially related to the reduction in stress response and anxiety-like behaviors, research has demonstrated that DHEA can act centrally to decrease glucocorticoid-induced neuronal death in various brain regions associated with emotional and cognitive regulation, in addition to promoting neurogenesis and physiological resiliency [28,29]. Indeed, the ratio between DHEA and CORT has been found to be a reliable index of neuroprotection [30,31], and due to their general physiological effects, also related to cancer progression [32,33]. ...
... Vice versa, patients with higher levels of DHEA/CORT ratios would have also better coping skills. Due to the correlational nature of the present study, we cannot test the directionality of this relationship, although based on previous studies [28][29][30][31], we believe that physiological activity of the HPA axis and emotional regulation influence each other. It was also hypothesized that patients with higher coping skills and higher DHEA/CORT ratios would also have a better chance to recover, as measured by the presence or absence of metastases. ...
Background
Tumors develop within an organism operating in a specific social and physical environment. Cortisol and dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA), two of the most abundant steroid hormones in humans, are involved in both emotional regulation and the tumor progression. Several studies reported preclinical findings that DHEA can have preventive and therapeutic efficacy in treating major age-associated diseases, including cancer, although the mechanisms of action are not yet defined. The main aim of current study was to investigate the relationship between psychological and physiological emotional regulation and cancer development.
Method
This study assessed the quality of life of urogenital cancer male patients using several validated tools, including the Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy-General and the Profile of Mood States. Saliva samples were collected to monitor peripheral activity of both cortisol and DHEA. It was hypothesized that patients with a better quality of life would have higher levels of the DHEA/cortisol ratios.
Results
We found that the quality of life was positively related to DHEA, but not cortisol levels. Negative mood increases were related to lower levels of DHEA. Logistic regression of the predictors of metastases indicated three main independent factors involved: DHEA, age, and cortisol. In other words, the higher the DHEA levels in comparison to cortisol levels, controlling for age, the lower the probability of metastases.
Conclusion
Our results appear to support the hypothesis that emotional dysregulation mediated by DHEA/cortisol activity is a key factor in the probability of metastasis in urogenital cancers.
... However, little is known about multi-hormone stress response function that supports adolescent coping to this end (cf. Wemm et al., 2010). Prevailing theory points to well-organized hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis function vis-à-vis coordinated cortisol and dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) activity as critical to executive processes (e.g., attentional control, working memory; Byrne et al., 2017;Shields et al., 2016) that support sophisticated ways of managing stressors (Compas, 2009). ...
... Multitrajectory modeling (MTM; Nagin et al., 2018) of cortisol and dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) in the context of a lab-based, socio-evaluative stressor revealed three subgroups. Most adolescents (labeled "Normative") exhibited moderate cortisol-DHEA response trajectories with longitudinal links to healthy functioning that align with functionalist views of well-orchestrated HPA multi-hormone coordination (Wemm et al., 2010;Marceau et al., 2015). A smaller subgroup of adolescents (labeled "Hyporesponsive") exhibited trajectories that deviated from Normative response patterns in developmentally typical ways (Kamin and Kertes, 2017). ...
Background
Well-orchestrated cortisol and DHEA stress responsivity is thought to support efficacious stressor management (i.e., coping) and reduce risk for psychopathology during adolescence. Evidence of these relations, however, is lacking empirically. This longitudinal investigation had three aims: 1) to identify within-adolescent profiles of joint cortisol-DHEA responsivity, 2) examine profiles as prospective predictors of adolescents’ later emotional and behavioral difficulties, and 3) examine whether distraction coping helped buffer such prospective risk in each profile.
Method
At Time 1, boys (n=110) and girls (n=105) between 11 and 16 years of age with varied levels of risk for psychopathology completed a lab-based socio-evaluative stressor and questionnaires (e.g., coping, internalizing and externalizing problems). Emotional and behavioral adjustment was assessed again at Time 2 (2 years later).
Results
Multi-trajectory modeling of adolescents’ cortisol and DHEA within the context of the stressor revealed three groups: Normative (n=107; 49.8%), Hyperresponsive (n=64; 29.8%), Hyporesponsive (n=44; 20.5%). Relative to Normative, Hyperresponsive and Hyporesponsive adolescents were more and less advanced in pubertal status, respectively. Hyperresponsive adolescents, but not Hyporesponsive, reported greater emotional and behavioral problems at Time 2, relative to Normative adolescents. Links between distraction coping and Time 2 adjustment varied across the groups. Specifically, distraction coping was associated with fewer Time 2 emotional and behavioral problems for Normative adolescents. However, the converse was true for Hyporesponsive adolescents, with distraction associated with greater Time 2 emotional and behavioral problems. Distraction was not associated with Time 2 emotional and behavioral problems for Hyperresponsive adolescents (i.e., elevated levels irrespective of distraction coping utilization).
Conclusion
Our results strengthen inference about the role neuroendocrine coordination plays in risk for psychopathology. Findings also help to clarify inconsistent distraction coping–psychopathology linkages, illustrating different patterns of cortisol-DHEA responsivity that support as well as thwart the use of this potentially efficacious strategy.
... DHEA has been proven to have a potential neuroprotective ability against excitatory amino acid-induced neurotoxicity both in vivo and in vitro. 4 However, DHEA has a more protective effect on men's health, 33 cardiovascular outcomes, 16 and bone protection through its conversion to androgen and estrogen and regulation of osteogenesis activity, 8 as well as better performance against stressors in a military setting, 34 ability to perform daily activities, 10 higher ADL, 21 and lower susceptibility to mood disturbances. 34 The gender differences in this study may result from such health-related behaviors as smoking or drinking or cardiovascular risk factors; however, some evidence has refuted the differences to support these hypotheses. ...
... 4 However, DHEA has a more protective effect on men's health, 33 cardiovascular outcomes, 16 and bone protection through its conversion to androgen and estrogen and regulation of osteogenesis activity, 8 as well as better performance against stressors in a military setting, 34 ability to perform daily activities, 10 higher ADL, 21 and lower susceptibility to mood disturbances. 34 The gender differences in this study may result from such health-related behaviors as smoking or drinking or cardiovascular risk factors; however, some evidence has refuted the differences to support these hypotheses. 33 Our data showed that the quality of life among the female participant group did not correlate to either of the neurosteroids, differing from the male group's findings. ...
Background
Dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA), its sulfate ester (DHEA-S), and pregnenolone are neurosteroids that can be synthesized in the brain. Previous studies have hypothesized that these neurosteroids have antiaging, mood-enhancing, and cognitive-preserving effects; however, these effects may be gender-specific. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to investigate the gender differences in the relationships among neurosteroids (DHEA, DHEA-S, and pregnenolone), cognitive function, and quality of life in healthy individuals.
Method
In this cross-sectional study, we enrolled 47 men (mean age: 32.8 years) and 75 women (mean age: 35.4 years) who had no major physical or psychiatric illnesses and measured their serum DHEA, DHEA-S, and pregnenolone. Furthermore, we evaluated the subjects’ cognitive function and quality of life using the Brief Assessment of Cognition in Schizophrenia and the World Health Organization Quality of Life Scale, respectively.
Results
The serum levels of DHEA and DHEA-S demonstrated significant gender differences, even after controlling for age effect. In the male subjects, the DHEA serum levels were positively correlated with three domains of the World Health Organization Quality of Life Scale, including physical health, social relations, and environmental dimensions. Meanwhile, the DHEA-S levels positively correlated with the performance of working memory, and pregnenolone levels had a positive correlation with working memory, verbal fluency, and Brief Assessment of Cognition in Schizophrenia composite score. However, in the female subjects, we observed a correlation only between the serum levels of DHEA-S and working memory.
Conclusion
The findings of our study indicate that neurosteroids play a vital role in cognitive function and quality of life among men but less so among women. Nevertheless, the underlying mechanisms of the gender-specific effect of neurosteroids require further investigation.
... Considering that the ratio between DHEA and cortisol has been found to be a reliable index of neuroprotection in both animal and human studies, 5,26,31,44,73,74 the high DHEA:cortisol ratio in RE owl monkeys after habituation training indicates the likelihood of increased neuroprotection in these pairs. Recent evidence suggests that increased activation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis facilitates learning in demanding environments, 32,33,74 therefore it is plausible to speculate that heightened DHEA:cortisol ratios may have shifted the allostatic load (that is, the physiologic The stress value for MDS was 0.18, with R 2 = 0.80, thus indicating that the map was not particularly accurate, due to the low number of subjects. ...
... Considering that the ratio between DHEA and cortisol has been found to be a reliable index of neuroprotection in both animal and human studies, 5,26,31,44,73,74 the high DHEA:cortisol ratio in RE owl monkeys after habituation training indicates the likelihood of increased neuroprotection in these pairs. Recent evidence suggests that increased activation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis facilitates learning in demanding environments, 32,33,74 therefore it is plausible to speculate that heightened DHEA:cortisol ratios may have shifted the allostatic load (that is, the physiologic The stress value for MDS was 0.18, with R 2 = 0.80, thus indicating that the map was not particularly accurate, due to the low number of subjects. Nevertheless, 2 major clusters were clearly identified by the analysis. ...
Parental behavior modifies neural, physiologic, and behavioral characteristics of both maternal and paternal mammals. These parenting-induced modifications extend to brain regions not typically associated with parental responses themselves but that enhance ancillary responses, such as foraging efficiency and predator avoidance. Here we hypothesized that male and female owl monkeys (Aotus spp.) with reproductive experience (RE) would demonstrate more adaptive ancillary behavioral and neuroendocrine responses than those of their nonRE counterparts. To assess cognitive skills and coping flexibility, we introduced a foraging strategy task, including a set of novel objects (coin holders) marked with different symbols representing different food rewards, to the animals. To assess endocrine responses, urine samples were assayed for cortisol and dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) levels and their ratios to determine physiologic measures of emotional regulation in RE and nonRE owl monkeys. Compared with nonRE monkeys, experienced parents had higher DHEA:cortisol ratios after exposure to habituation training and on the first day of testing in the foraging task. Both hormones play critical roles in the stress response and coping mechanisms, and a high DHEA:cortisol ratio usually indicates increased coping skills. In addition, RE monkeys exhibited more efficient foraging responses (by 4-fold) than did the nonRE mating pairs. We conclude that RE modifies relevant behavioral and hormonal responses of both maternal and paternal owl monkeys exposed to a challenging cognitive paradigm. Corroborating previous research demonstrating adaptive modifications in foraging efficiency and emotional responses in reproductively experienced rodents, the current results extend these findings to a monogamous primate species.
... Furthermore, DHEAS levels relate to morbidity and mortality even after age correction (Berr et al. 1996;Gruenewald et al. 2006;Sicard et al. 2007). Either specific effects or more generally a cortisol antagonism has been invoked to account for those associations (Akinola & Mendes 2008;Wemm et al. 2010). ...
... Similarly to other neurosteroids specific central nervous system effects have been described for DHEAS. DHEAS seems to modulate cognitive function and higher levels of this hormone are related to better results regarding memory, learning and resilience (Barrett-Connor & Edelstein 1994;Morley et al. 1997;Compagnone & Mellon 1998;Reddy & Kulkarni 1998;Morrow 2007;Sicard et al. 2007;Wemm et al. 2010); to higher well being scores and less depression (Moralès et al. 1994;Wolf et al. 1997;Barrett-Connor et al. 1999;Schlienger et al. 2002;Dallman et al. 2003;Akinola & Mendes 2008) and to higher resistance to the deleterious effects of a stressful situation (Reddy & Kulkarni 1998;Morrow 2007;Morgan et al. 2009;Yoon et al. 2009). ...
Dehydroepiandrosterone-sulphate (DHEAS) physiologic relevance remains controversial. However, several central nervous system and behavioural effects of DHEAS have been described. We explored the relation between DHEAS and both pituitary-adrenal axis reactivity and personality in human subjects.
We studied 120 consecutive patients assisted at the out patient endocrine department of a public central hospital before medical treatment. Personality was evaluated with the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) and the pituitary-adrenal axis reactivity was assessed with the CRH test.
Baseline DHEAS was inversely related to peak/basal cortisol (parcial r=-0.454, p<0.05) response to CRH infusion. DHEAS reactivity in the CRH test was directly related to the Deviant Behaviour triad (BD) (r=0.257, p<0.05) and type A personality (AP) (r=0.295, p<0.05). Basal ACTH was directly related to baseline DHEAS (r=0.366, p<0.001) and together with age and gender explained 34% of DHEAS variability.
DHEAS may be a protective factor against an excessive cortisol response when people are under stress situations. Personality may be related to DHEAS reactivity.
... Dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) and its sulfate form (DHEA-S) are released during a stress response to inhibit both catecholamine upregulation in the adrenal medulla, as well as many of the negative effects of glucocorticoids in various tissues [11][12][13]. Potentially related to the reduction in stress response and anxiety-like behaviors, research has demonstrated that DHEA can act centrally to decrease glucocorticoidinduced neuronal death in brain regions associated with emotional and cognitive regulation, in addition to promoting neurogenesis and physiological resiliency [14][15]. Indeed, the ratio between DHEA and CORT has been found to be a reliable index of neuroprotection [16][17]. ...
Purpose: Tumors develop within an organism operating in a specific social and physical environment. Cortisol and dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) are involved in both emotional regulation and the tumor progression.
Methods: This study assessed the quality of life of urogenital cancer male patients. It was hypothesized that patients with a better quality of life would have higher levels of the DHEA/cortisol ratios.
Results: We found that the quality of life was positively related to DHEA, but not cortisol levels. Negative mood changes were related to lower levels of DHEA. Logistic regression of the predictors of metastases indicated three main independent factors involved: DHEA, age, and cortisol. In other words, the higher the DHEA levels in comparison to cortisol levels, controlling for age, the lower the probability of metastases.
Conclusion: Our results appear to support the hypothesis that emotional dysregulation mediated by DHEA/cortisol activity is a key factor in cancer development.
... Empirical evidence has shown that chronic stress has a negative impact on students' physical (Mouchacca, Abbott, & Ball, 2013) and mental health (Osberg & Eggert, 2012). Additionally, chronic stress levels are associated with poor performance on tests (Bardi, Koone, Mewaldt, & O'Connor, 2011;Wemm, Koone, Blough, Mewaldt, & Bardi, 2010). Bardi et al. (2011) recruited 91 students (45 females and 46 males) enrolled in an organic chemistry course for their study. ...
College can be a stressful time for students as they transition to greater independence and increased responsibilities from before. Increased stress levels can have a debilitating effect on their ability to persist with their academic goals. In the psychological literature, researchers believe they have identified a motivation trait that may explain individual differences in persistence and perseverance toward goals. Grit is a motivation orientation characterized by passion and persistence in the pursuit of a long-term goal. Consisting of two facets, Grit-Perseverance and Grit-Consistency, grit has been shown to predict beneficial outcomes in a variety of domains, including academics. Yet, very little work has examined the psychological consequences of gritty goal pursuit. Considering that individuals high on facets of grit are presented as persistently pursuing their goals regardless of setbacks and obstacles it is plausible to speculate that gritty goal pursuit may be associated with increased stress levels. The purpose of this chapter is to present the results of two studies conducted to examine the relations between facets of grit and chronic stress with implications for academic problems in college students. In the first study, 101 participants (72 = Female; 18–24 years) completed the Grit-S Scale and the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS). Bivariate correlations revealed that Grit-Perseverance and Grit-Consistency were negatively correlated with perceived chronic stress. In the second study, 127 participants (88 = Female; 18–32 years) were administered the Academic Problems Subscale of the College Adjustment Scale along with the Grit-S Scale and the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS). Both facets of grit were negatively correlated with perceived chronic stress, thus replicating findings from Study 1. Additionally, regression analysis revealed that Grit-Perseverance and Grit-Consistency predicted fewer academic problems. Finally mediation regression analyses indicated that facets of grit reduced academic problems through decreased stress levels. Overall, these studies suggest that gritty goal pursuit is associated with reduced chronic stress and fewer academic problems in college students.
... Participants accomplished the anagram solution task (MacLeod et al., 2002;Watkins et al., 2008;Wemm et al., 2010) that consisted of 15 soluble and 15 insoluble anagrams, each five or six letters long. Each letter string from the anagram was displayed on a screen, in a random order, individually during 20 s. ...
Background: Emotion regulation refers to the attempt to influence the latency, magnitude, and duration of an emotion, and to modify the experiential, behavioral, or physiological components of the emotional response. In situations of personal failure, individuals, and in particular those who present a tendency to self-focus, may experience intense emotional distress. Individuals who lack proper adaptive emotion regulation strategies may engage in activities leading to immediate pleasure, such as alcohol drinking, in order to escape the self-relevance of emotional experiences. This self-awareness theory of drinking has been shown explain relapses in self-focused alcohol-dependent individuals in situations of personal failure, after detoxification. Such relapses support the existence of maladaptive emotion regulation strategies in alcohol dependence. As binge drinking may be considered as an early stage of alcohol-use-disorder, the aim of this study was to explore the relationship between emotional distress, self-regulation and self-consciousness in binge drinkers (BD).
Methods: Fifty-five students (32 BD and 23 controls) completed different questionnaires related to the self (self-consciousness and self-regulation questionnaires) and were exposed to a situation of self-failure (insoluble anagrams).
Results: The distress induced by the anagrams task was more related to self-blame, ruminations and maladaptive emotion regulation strategies in BD than in controls. Emotional distress was related to less positive refocusing, refocusing on planning, and adaptive emotion regulation strategies among the control group with less public self-consciousness. Emotional distress was related to more positive refocusing, positive reappraisal, refocusing on planning, and adaptive emotion regulation strategies among control participants with higher public self-consciousness. Low self-conscious BD who experienced anagram distress used less acceptance and less refocusing on planning strategies. Conversely, high self-conscious BD used more refocusing on planning strategies when experiencing anagram distress.
Conclusion: This study suggests a relationship between emotional distress and self-regulation, in BD only. Moreover, public self-consciousness appears to be a disposition that motivates non-BD to improve actions and attitudes to meet self-standards. Finally, this study suggests a minor role of self-consciousness in the relationship between self-regulation and emotional distress in BD. Finally, low private/public self-consciousness in the binge drinking group may also be related to more maladaptive emotion regulation strategies.
... The current data also emphasise that animals in the NE condition also exhibited an increased ability to cope with anxiogenic behavioural tasks, both in the OF and the FS tasks, as indicated by a higher DHEA/CORT ratio. Higher DHEA/CORT ratios have been associated with mental health/resilience (38,39,(48)(49)(50). Resilience, defined as the utilisation of active coping strategies such as problem-solving to restrain the stress response, has been associated with an enhanced negativefeedback system regulating stress neurochemicals, as well as a form of cognitive reappraisal of stressful events (51). ...
Enriched environments are beneficial to neurobiological development; specifically, rodents exposed to complex, rather than standard laboratory, environments exhibit evidence of neuroplasticity and enhanced cognitive performance. In the current study, the nature of elements placed in the complex environment was investigated. Accordingly, rats (n=8 per group) were housed in a natural environment characterized by stimuli such as dirt and rocks; an artificial environment characterized by plastic toys and synthetic nesting materials, a natural/artificial environment characterized by a combination of artificial and natural stimuli or a laboratory standard environment characterized by no enrichment stimuli. Following exposure to emotional and cognitive behavioral tasks including a cricket hunting task, novel object preference task and forced swim task, brains were processed for glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP)-, neuronal nuclei (NeuN)-, and brain derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF)-immunoreactivity (ir). Baseline and stress fecal samples were collected to assess corticosterone (CORT) and dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA). Natural environment animals exhibited shorter diving latencies and increased diving frequencies in the second forced swimming task, along with higher DHEA/CORT ratios, and higher GFAP-ir in the hippocampus. Type of environmental enrichment did not influence levels of BDNF-ir in the CA1, CA3, and dentate gyrus of the hippocampus; however, natural environment animals exhibited higher levels of NeuN-ir in the retrosplenial cortex, an area involved in spatial memory and other cognitive functions. These results suggest that, in addition to enhancing behavioral and endocrinological variables associated with resilience, exposure to natural stimuli might alter plasticity in brain areas associated with cortical processing and learning. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.
... That is, they were better at recalling which purse held the higher-value food. Too, reproductively experienced owl monkeys had higher DHEA/ cortisol ratios (based on urinary metabolites), consistent with enhanced emotional resilience Morgan et al., 2009;Wemm et al., 2010). ...
It is becoming clear that the female brain has an inherent plasticity that is expressed during reproduction. The changes that occur benefit the offspring, which in turn secures the survival of the mother's genetic legacy. Thus, the onset of maternal motivation involves basic mechanisms from genetic expression profiles, to hormone release, to hormone-neuron interactions, all of which fundamentally change the neural architecture - and for a period of time that extends, interestingly, beyond the reproductive life of the female. Although multiple brain areas involved in maternal responses are discussed, this review focuses primarily on plasticity in the maternal hippocampus during pregnancy, the postpartum period and well into aging as it pertains to changes in cognition. In addition, the effects of prolonged and repeated stress on these dynamic responses are considered. The maternal brain is a marvel of directed change, extending into behaviors both obvious (infant-directed) and less obvious (predation, cognition). In sum, the far-reaching effects of reproduction on the female nervous system provide an opportunity to investigate neuroplasticity and behavioral flexibility in a natural mammalian model.
Copyright © 2015. Published by Elsevier Inc.
... Several central effects concerning cognitive performance and stress response have been described for DHEA and DHEAS. Higher levels were related to increased memory and attention scores [9,11] and improved performance in stressful conditions [12,13,14], whereas low levels were found in Alzheimer's disease [15]. However, DHEA administration in older subjects showed inconclusive results [5,16,17,18,19]. ...
Introduction: Several studies suggest DHEA and DHEAS (DHEA(S)) are related to memory enhancement and a better performance under stress. An anti-cortisol action may contribute to those relations. We looked for a new level of evidence, by studying DHEA(S) and cortisol relations to working memory (WM) and distraction in humans also at the electrophysiological level.
Subjects and methods: Twenty-eight healthy female volunteers (1826 years old) were presented a well-established auditoryvisual distraction task protocol. EEG was recorded during the performance of one task with WM load (WM1) and other without, while ignoring task-irrelevant sounds (80% standard st; 20% novel nov). ERPs were averaged for each auditory-stimulus trial type and WM condition. Novelty-P3 was identified in the nov minus st difference waveforms. Salivary DHEA, DHEAS and cortisol were measured before each task and at 30 and 60 min.
Results: With simultaneous WM load and distraction: i) Hit rate decrease was directly related to basal cortisol (P<0.05) and inversely related to DHEA reactivity (30/0 min) increase between conditions (P<0.05); and ii) Reaction time increase was inversely related to basal cortisol (P<0.05) and directly related to DHEA reactivity increase between conditions (P<0.005).
Regarding auditory ERPs, novelty-P3 amplitude in WM1 was directly related to cortisol/DHEA ratio before that task (P=0.007). In visual ERPs, P300 amplitude in WM1 was directly related to basal DHEAS (P=0.011) and changed due to WM load in direct relation to DHEA reactivity (P=0.005).
Discussion: In more demanding situations, higher basal cortisol was related to faster answers and more errors whereas DHEA reactivity presented opposite relations. At the electrophysiological level, distraction during WM load was in direct relation to cortisol/DHEA ratio and processing of the task-relevant visual stimulus was enhanced by higher basal DHEAS and DHEA reactivity. Overall, higher cortisol level was related to worse performance and more distraction while DHEA(S) showed opposite effects.
... Several central effects concerning cognitive performance and stress response have been described for DHEA and DHEAS. Higher levels were related to increased memory and attention scores [9,11] and improved performance in stressful conditions [12,13,14], whereas low levels were found in Alzheimer's disease [15]. However, DHEA administration in older subjects showed inconclusive results [5,16,17,18,19]. ...
Dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) and dehydroepiandrosterone-sulphate (DHEAS) have been reported to have memory enhancement effects in humans. A neuro-stimulatory action and an anti-cortisol mechanism of action may contribute to that relation. In order to study DHEA, DHEAS and cortisol relations to working memory and distraction, we recorded the electroencephalogram of 23 young women performing a discrimination (no working memory load) or 1-back (working memory load) task in an audiovisual oddball paradigm. We measured salivary DHEA, DHEAS and cortisol both before each task and at 30 and 60 min. Under working memory load, a higher baseline cortisol/DHEA ratio was related to higher distraction as indexed by an enhanced novelty P3. This suggests that cortisol may lead to increased distraction whereas DHEA may hinder distraction by leading to less processing of the distractor. An increased DHEA production with consecutive cognitive tasks was found and higher DHEA responses attributed to working memory load were related to enhanced working memory processing as indexed by an enhanced visual P300. Overall, the results suggest that in women DHEA may oppose cortisol effects reducing distraction and that a higher DHEA response may enhance working memory at the electrophysiological level.
... More often than not, though, in adolescent research DHEA has either been studied in the context of the cortisol-DHEA ratio (Goodyer et al. 2003) or in reactivity paradigms (for example, Shirtcliff et al. 2007;Wemm et al. 2010). Interestingly, the cross-sectional developmental associations found involving DHEA appear specific to stressors/challenges involving a social component (Marceau et al. 2014). ...
Attachment behaviors play a critical role in regulating emotion within the context of close relationships, and attachment theory is currently used to inform evidence-based practice in the areas of adolescent health and social care. This study investigated the association between female adolescents' interview-based attachment behaviors and two markers of hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis activity: cortisol and dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA). Unlike the classic stress hormone cortisol, there is very limited investigation of DHEA-a quintessential developmental hormone-in relation to attachment, especially in adolescents. Fifty-five healthy females mean age 14.36 (±2.41) years participated in the attachment style interview. A smaller cortisol awakening response was related to anxious attachment attitudes, including more fear of rejection, whereas greater morning basal DHEA secretion was only predicted by lower levels of reported confiding in one's mother. These attachment-hormone relationships may be developmental markers in females, as they were independent of menarche status. These findings highlight that the normative shifts occurring in attachment to caregivers around adolescence are reflected in adolescents' biological stress regulation. We discuss how studying these shifts can be informed by evolutionary-developmental theory.
... Several central effects concerning cognitive performance and stress response have been described for DHEA and DHEAS. Higher levels were related to increased memory and attention scores [9,11] and improved performance in stressful conditions [12,13,14], whereas low levels were found in Alzheimer's disease [15]. However, DHEA administration in older subjects showed inconclusive results [5,16,17,18,19]. ...
Dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) and dehydroepiandrosterone-sulphate (DHEAS) have been reported to have memory enhancement effects in humans. A neuro-stimulatory action and an anti-cortisol mechanism of action may contribute to that relation. In order to study DHEA, DHEAS and cortisol relations to working memory and distraction, we recorded the electroencephalogram of 23 young women performing a discrimination (no working memory load) or 1-back (working memory load) task in an audio-visual oddball paradigm. We measured salivary DHEA, DHEAS and cortisol both before each task and at 30 and 60 min. Under working memory load, a higher baseline cortisol/DHEA ratio was related to higher distraction as indexed by an enhanced novelty P3. This suggests that cortisol may lead to increased distraction whereas DHEA may hinder distraction by leading to less processing of the distractor. An increased DHEA production with consecutive cognitive tasks was found and higher DHEA responses attributed to working memory load were related to enhanced working memory processing as indexed by an enhanced visual P300. Overall, the results suggest that in women DHEA may oppose cortisol effects reducing distraction and that a higher DHEA response may enhance working memory at the electrophysiological level.
... Most DHEA is secreted in the form of dehydroepiandrosterone-sulfate (DHEA-S) into the circulatory system [9] and converted to either androgens or estrogens [10][11][12]. DHEA thus has many functions, such as sex-hormone production, stress regulation, neural activity affection, neurotransmitter metabolism [13], and the prevention of brain aging [14]. DHEA secretions become maximal in the mid-twenties and then steadily decline over the next decades to around half the youthful value over the age of 45. ...
Cytochrome P450 2C9 (CYP2C9) metabolizes dehydroepiandrosterone-sulfate (DHEA-S), but in elderly people the amount of DHEA-S remaining after CYP2C9 metabolization may be insufficient for optimal health. A prediction model, molecular docking, and molecular dynamics were used to screen the Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) database to determine molecular compounds that may inhibit CYP2C9. The candidate compounds apocynoside(I), 4-methoxymagndialdehyde, and prunasin have higher Dock Scores, and prediction bioactivity than warfarin (the control drug). The interaction between 4-methoxymagndialdehyde and CYP2C9 is more intense than with other TCM compounds, but the simulation is longer. In these compounds, apocynoside(I) and prunasin have a greater number of pathways for their flexible structure, but these structures create weak interactions. These candidate compounds, which are known to have antioxidation and hypolipidemic functions that have an indirect effect on the aging process, can be extracted from traditional Chinese medicines. Thus, these candidate compounds may become CYP2C9 inhibitors and play an important role in providing optimal health in the elderly.
... Further, chronically high levels of cortisol can lead to neuronal atrophy as well as the downregulation of glucocorticoid receptors in the hippocampus and prefrontal cortex along with simultaneous upregulation of receptors in the amygdala, which may lead to poor memory and mental health outcomes (Lupien et al., 1998;Lupien, McEwen, Gunnar, & Heim, 2009). Research suggests that simultaneous release of DHEA may be able to buffer against the deleterious effects of cortisol (Herbert, 1997;Morgan et al., 2004;Wemm, Koone, Blough, Mewaldt, & Bardi, 2010) perhaps in part because DHEA has been shown to decrease neuronal atrophy and promote neurogenesis in rats (Maninger, Wolkowitz, Reus, Epel, & Mellon, 2009). This evidence suggests that the relative level of each hormone should be examined in relation to the other, and indeed cortisol is often considered in studies of the effects of DHEA in the form of ratios (see Combined Influence of HPA and HPG Axis Hormones and Adolescent Mental Health Section). ...
Substantial research has implicated the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) and hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal (HPG) axes independently in adolescent mental health problems, though this literature remains largely inconclusive. Given the cross-talk between the HPA and HPG axes and their increased activation in adolescence, a dual-axis approach that examines both axes simultaneously is proposed to predict the emergence and persistence of adolescent mental health problems. After briefly orienting readers to HPA and HPG axis functioning, we review the literature examining associations between hormone levels and changes with behavior during adolescence. Then, we provide a review of the literature supporting examination of both axes simultaneously and present the limited research that has taken a dual-axis approach. We propose future directions including consideration of between-person and within-person approaches to address questions of correlated changes in HPA and HPG hormones. Potential moderators are considered to increase understanding of the nuanced hormone–behavior associations during key developmental transitions. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Dev Psychobiol
... Dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA), another hormone secreted by HPA axis activation, has been shown to mediate stress and coping responses (Hawley et al., 2010;Bardi et al., 2011) and demonstrated to protect against the negative effects of glucocorticoid exposure (Morgan et al., 2004). An emerging theory in stress research posits that elevated DHEA-to-cortisol ratios confer an advantage in demanding environments (Wemm et al., 2010;Bardi et al., 2011). Specifically, increased DHEA and the DHEA-to-cortisol ratio have been associated with enhanced performance in adults under stress (Morgan et al., 2004). ...
The genetic, biological, and environmental backgrounds of an organism fundamentally influence the balance between risk and resilience to stress. Sex, age, and environment transact with responses to trauma in ways that can mitigate or exacerbate the likelihood that post-traumatic stress disorder will develop. Translational approaches to modeling affective disorders in animals will ultimately provide novel treatments and a better understanding of the neurobiological underpinnings behind these debilitating disorders. The extant literature on trauma/stress has focused predominately on limbic and cortical structures that innervate the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis and influence glucocorticoid-mediated negative feedback. It is through these neuroendocrine pathways that a self-perpetuating fear memory can propagate the long-term effects of early life trauma. Recent work incorporating translational approaches has provided novel pathways that can be influenced by early life stress, such as the glucocorticoid receptor chaperones, including FKBP51. Animal models of stress have differing effects on behavior and endocrine pathways; however, complete models replicating clinical characteristics of risk and resilience have not been rigorously studied. This review discusses a four factor model that considers the importance of studying both risk and resilience in understanding the developmental response to trauma/stress. Consideration of the multifactorial nature of clinical populations in the design of preclinical models and the application of preclinical findings to clinical treatment approaches comprise the core of translational reciprocity which is discussed in the context of the four factor model.
... Fidgeting in such contexts is strongly warned against (Florman 2005), but our results indicate that such suppression of displacement behaviour may have negative impacts on an individual's ability to manage the stress they experience during the interview itself. A number of studies in humans have explored displacement behaviour as a response to stressful situations, and/or as a correlate of subsequent stress levels (Sgoifo et al. 2003; Pico-Alfonso et al. 2007; Wemm et al. 2010; Bardi et al. 2011). Our study advances research in this area by explicitly exploring displacement behaviour as a potential mediator or moderator of the link between anxiety and stress. ...
Behavioural coping strategies represent a key means by which people regulate their stress levels. Attention has recently focused on the potential role in coping of 'displacement behaviour' - activities such as scratching, lip biting and face touching. Increased levels of displacement behaviour are associated with feelings of anxiety and stress; however, the extent to which displacement behaviour, as a short-term behavioural response to emotionally challenging stimuli, influences the subsequent experience of stress remains poorly understood. The aim of this study was to investigate the potential role of displacement behaviour in coping with stress. In a study population of 42 healthy adult men (mean age = 28.09 years, SD = 7.98), we quantified displacement behaviour during a Trier Social Stress Test (TSST), and used self-report questionnaires to assess trait and state anxiety before the TSST, and the experience of stress afterwards. We predicted displacement behaviour would diminish the negative impact of the stressful situation, and hence be associated with lower post-TSST stress levels. Furthermore, we predicted displacement behaviour would mediate the link between state and trait anxiety on the one hand and the experience of stress on the other. Results showed the rate of displacement behaviour was positively correlated with state anxiety but unrelated to trait anxiety, and negatively correlated with the self-reported experience of stress, in agreement with the idea that displacement behaviour has a crucial impact on regulation of stress. Moreover, serial mediation analyses using a bias-corrected bootstrapping approach indicated displacement behaviour mediated the relationship between state anxiety and the experience of stress, and that state anxiety and displacement behaviour - in combination, respectively - mediated the link between trait anxiety and experience of stress. These results shed important new light on the function of displacement behaviour, and highlight promising new avenues for research into emotional expression and stress regulation.
... At the same time, the organism needs to be protected by the negative effects of high corticosterone levels. Consequently, the emerging theory from recent stress research suggests that higher DHEA concentrations (among other chemicals able to counteract stress), as compared to corticosterone concentrations, can indeed confer an advantage in demanding environments (Wemm et al. 2010;Bardi et al. 2011b). ...
Effective coping strategies and adaptive behavioral training build resilience against stress-induced pathology. Both predisposed and acquired coping strategies were investigated in rats to determine their impact on stress responsiveness and emotional resilience. Male Long-Evans rats were assigned to one of the three coping groups: passive, active, or variable copers. Rats were then randomly assigned to either an effort-based reward (EBR) contingent training group or a non-contingent training group. Following EBR training, rats were tested in appetitive and stressful challenge tasks. Physiological responses included changes in fecal corticosterone and dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) metabolites as well as neuropeptide Y (NPY)-immunoreactivity in the hippocampus and amygdala. Regardless of a rat's predisposed coping strategy, EBR rats persisted longer than non-contingent rats in the appetitive problem-solving task. Furthermore, training and coping styles interacted to yield the seemingly most adaptive DHEA/corticosterone ratios in the EBR-trained variable copers. Regardless of training group, variable copers exhibited increased NPY-immunoreactivity in the CA1 region.
... Van den Bergh et al. 2008;Oskis et al. 2011) there is scant literature on the equivalent and parallel diurnal pattern of DHEA. Indeed, for DHEA, there is more research on DHEA in stress response investigation in studies of adolescents and young adults (Shirtcliff et al. 2007;Wemm et al. 2010). It has been suggested that an understanding of both of these adrenal hormones may be important for elucidating biological correlates of psychopathology (Stroud et al. 2009). ...
The adrenal hormones cortisol and dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) share a common secretagogue: adrenocorticotropic hormone; however, secretion of these hormones can be dissociated suggesting subtle individual regulation at the level of the adrenal gland. We examined differences in the diurnal patterns of cortisol and DHEA secretion in healthy adolescent girls, with the aim of informing the possibility of exploiting these differences to aid interpretation of data from clinical populations in which these patterns can become dysregulated. Fifty-six healthy females aged 10-18 years provided saliva samples at 0 and 30 min (morning samples) and 12 h post-awakening on 2 consecutive weekdays. For morning salivary cortisol in relation to morning DHEA concentrations, correlational analysis revealed only a trend (p = 0.054). Similarly, the association between evening cortisol and DHEA was characterised as a trend (p = 0.084). Mean morning DHEA concentrations showed more day-to-day consistency than equivalent cortisol samples (r = 0.829 for DHEA and 0.468 for cortisol; z = 3.487, p < 0.0005). Unlike the cortisol pattern, characterised by a marked awakening response (cortisol awakening response, CAR), a significant rise in DHEA concentration post-awakening was not evident. Finally, there was a strong association between morning and evening concentrations of DHEA, not found for cortisol. The study shows differences in cortisol and DHEA secretion in the post-awakening period and informs work that seeks to examine correlates of dysregulated hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis function. Parallel examination of both hormones enables enhanced interpretation of aberrant patterns of the CAR, i.e. an exploration of whether dysregulation affects both hormones (reflecting overall steroidogenic capacity) or cortisol alone (CAR-specific mechanisms).
... However, at a behavioral level DHEA has been linked to better task performance in individuals with PTSD ) and a higher DHEA/cortisol level to better performance in military training . Most recently Wemm et al. (2010) found that DHEA/cortisol ratio was related to academic performance among a sample of college students, independent of standardized test scores and emotional frustration. While, these finding are hard to interpret at a neurological level, the authors suggest that they reflect the impact of behavioral flexibility, a characteristic associated with neural plasticity. ...
To addresses the hypothesis that human adrenarche is associated with extended juvenile brain development by comparing the timing of adrenal androgen production, brain development and lactation in a larger comparative mammalian context.
Findings from published literature are used to compare the developmental timing of adrenal androgens, brain glucose utilization and lactation in rats, rhesus macaques and humans.
Comparison of the timing of androstenedione and progesterone production with developmental patterns of cortical glucose utilization and the timing of lactation in laboratory rats suggest that the rise and fall of adrenal hormone production centered on weaning plays a role in synaptogenesis during lactation as well as post weaning synaptic pruning. Comparison of the timing of cortical glucose utilization, DHEAS production and weaning in rhesus macaques also suggests that postnatally elevated levels of DHEAS may be related to patterns of synaptic formation and pruning centered on weaning. In contrast among humans, peak cortical glucose utilization occurs well after weaning and the rise in adrenal androgen production coincides with declining cortical glucose utilization with the onset of the juvenile stage.
Compared to rats and macaque, in humans the energetic demands of brain development and increased production of adrenal androgens are divorced from the timing of lactation, while the timing of adrenarche and brain development are still associated. Thus the neuroprotective effects of DHEAS may protect synaptic plasticity in metabolically active parts of the brain starting approximately at the age of 7, promoting prolonged development of the human prefrontal cortex.
Purpose:
This study aimed to investigate the association between serum levels of cortisol and dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate (DHEA-s) and sickness absence over 2 years in Japanese male workers.
Method:
A baseline survey including questions about health behavior, along with blood sampling for cortisol and DHEA-s, was conducted in 2009. In total, 429 men (mean ± SD age, 52.9 ± 8.6 years) from whom blood samples were collected at baseline were followed until December 31, 2011. The hazard ratios (HR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) for sickness absence were calculated using a Cox proportional hazard model, adjusted for potential confounders.
Results:
Among 35 workers who took sickness absences, 31 had physical illness. A high cortisol to DHEA-s ratio increased the risk of sickness absence (crude HR = 2.68, 95% CI 1.12-6.41; adjusted HR = 3.33, 95% CI 1.35-8.20). The cortisol to DHEA-s ratio was linearly associated with an increased risk of sickness absence (p for trend < .050). Single effects of cortisol and DHEA-s levels were not associated with sickness absences. This trend did not change when limited to absences resulting from physical illness.
Conclusion:
Hormonal conditions related to the hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenocortical axis and adrenal function should be considered when predicting sickness absence. The cortisol to DHEA-s ratio may be more informative than single effects of cortisol and DHEA-s levels.
The neurosteroids dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) and allopregnanolone are integral components of the stress response and exert positive modulatory effects on emotion in human and animal studies. Though these antidepressant and anxiolytic effects have been well established, little research to date has examined their neural correlates. In particular, brain imaging techniques have not yet been used to assess the impact of neurosteroid administration on emotion regulation neurocircuitry. In a parallel line of research, growing evidence supports that intrinsic connectivity networks involved in emotion regulation are disrupted in anxiety disorders. However, the impact of neurosteroids on these intrinsic connectivity networks is unknown. Thus, the current studies aim to describe the impact of neurosteroids on emotion regulation neurocircuits and amygdala intrinsic connectivity by measuring the effects of neurosteroid administration on the Shifted-Attention Emotional Appraisal Task and on resting-state fMRI. We demonstrate that during emotion regulation, DHEA and allopregnanolone reduce activity in regions associated with generation of negative emotion and enhance activity in regions linked to regulatory processes. Further, we demonstrate that these neurosteroids modulate amygdala intrinsic connectivity in ways that run counter to aberrations observed in posttraumatic stress disorder. Thus, our results provide initial neuroimaging evidence that DHEA and allopregnanolone may be useful as pharmacological interventions for anxiety disorders and invite further investigation into the brain basis of neurosteroid emotion regulatory effects.
Paternal behavior greatly affects the survival, social development, and cognitive development of infants. Nevertheless, little research has been done to assess how paternal experience modifies the behavioral characteristics of fathers, including fear and stress responses to a novel environment. We investigated long-term behavioral and physiologic effects of parental experience in mice (Peromyscus californicus) and how this response activates the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis (as measured by corticosterone and dehydroepiandrosterone [DHEA] levels) and interacts with anxiety-related behaviors. Three groups of adult males were tested--fathers exposed to pups, virgins exposed to pups, and virgins never exposed to pups--in 2 environments designed to elicit anxiety response: an open field with a novel object placed in the center and a closed cage containing a sample of a component of fox feces. Behavioral responses were measured by using traditional methods (duration and frequency) and behavioral-chain sequences. Results indicated that paternal experience significantly modifies a male mouse's behavioral and physiologic responses to stress-provoking stimuli. Compared with inexperienced male mice, experienced male mice had a significant decrease in the occurrence of incomplete behavioral chains during the exposure to the novel object, an index of reduced stress. Further, even moderate pup exposure induced behavioral modifications in virgin male mice. These behavioral responses were correlated with changes in corticosterone and DHEA levels. Together, these data provide evidence that interactions between male mice and offspring may have mutually beneficial long-term behavioral and physiologic effects.
This study was designed to assess physiological and behavioral correlates of academic stress during a college course in organic chemistry in the USA. Participants (45 females, 46 males, mean age 19.88 years) were screened for their basal hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenocortical activity using saliva samples collected at the beginning of the course and after each major test. Displacement activities (DAs) were observed during each test by videotaping students' behavior when they were taking the tests. These variables were then used as predictors of the students' achievement as measured by their grade point average (GPA) scores, American College Testing (ACT) scores, and their final grade in the class. Ninety-one students, enrolled in Organic Chemistry I at Marshall University during the summer of 2009, were recruited for this study. It was found that individual differences in the physiological stress responses are a factor in predicting the students' ability to pass a challenging class. A logistic model built on GPA, DAs during stress, and salivary hormone (cortisol and dehydroepiandrosterone) concentrations was able to correctly classify almost 90% of the students passing the class. The same model was not nearly as successful in determining the possible factors behind failing the class, because the classification success was just 52%, a figure close to chance. We conclude that a clear set of characteristics related to the students' ability and resilience to psychological stress are necessary to succeed in a challenging class. The reason behind dropping or failing a class could be less defined. These data indicated that investigating the physiological and behavioral propensities associated with psychological stress can help us better understand an individual's coping responses to a long-term challenging situation.
This study tracked 139 graduates of the same master's of business administration program for five years and demonstrated significant main effects of the personality variable self-monitoring on career mobility. The chameleon-like high self-monitors were more likely than the true-to-themselves low self-monitors to change employers, move locations, and achieve cross-company promotions. Of the 72 individuals who did not change employers, those high on self-monitoring obtained more internal promotions than those low on the variable.
Raw scores (frequency of efforts) versus relative scores (percentage of efforts) were compared on the five scales of the revised Ways of Coping Checklist. It was hypothesized that, conditional on the source of and appraisal of a stressor, problem-focused coping should be inversely related and Wishful Thinking should be positively related to depression when relative scores were used but that raw problem-focused scores would be less clearly related to depression in such a way. It was further hypothesized that these relationships would hold for very diverse samples: psychiatric outpatients (n = 145), spouses of patients with Alzheimer's disease (n = 66), and medical students (n = 185). Given the maladaptive status of the psychiatric outpatients, it was hypothesized that they would report more emotion-focused strategies and less problem-focused coping than the nonclinical samples and that these differences would be better observed using relative rather than raw scores. The hypotheses were generally supported.
This study examined 3 coping strategies (reflective, suppressive, and reactive), along with self-esteem, as moderators of the relation between perceived discrimination and depressive symptoms. International students (N = 354) from China, India, Korea, Taiwan, and Hong Kong provided data via an online survey. The role of perceived general stress was statistically controlled. Hierarchical regression analyses indicated a significant direct effect of perceived discrimination, a significant 2-way interaction of perceived discrimination and suppressive coping, and a significant 3-way interaction of perceived discrimination, reactive coping, and self-esteem in predicting depressive symptoms. An increased tendency to use suppressive coping appeared to strengthen the association between perceived discrimination and depressive symptoms. In contrast, the association between perceived discrimination and depressive symptoms was not significant when reactive coping was infrequently used, but only for students with relatively high self-esteem. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved).
The purpose of the study was to present experimental arguments evaluating the Humphreys and Revelle's model of effort. Two important factors were tested: achievement motivation and difficulty. Heart rate, heart rate variability, blood pressure, facial electromyographic reactivity, and reaction time were measured as an index of effort expenditure. A 2x2x2 factorial design was used with two levels of resultant achievement motivation, two levels of task difficulty, and two levels of goal difficulty. As expected, the 16 participants high in resultant achievement motivation showed a better performance and had a larger decrease of the midfrequency band than the 16 participants low in resultant achievement motivation, especially during the difficult task. Results lend some support for the impact of resultant achievement motivation, task difficulty, and goal difficulty on effort mobilization.
The steroid dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate (DHEA-S) is associated with longevity and adaptation against external stress in humans. The aim of the study was to investigate the acute effect of a 30-min hot spring immersion at 41 degrees C on insulin resistance measures of 16 male subjects, in relation to DHEA-S level. To elucidate the role of DHEA-S in the coping against the heat stress, all subjects were evenly divided into lower and upper halves according to their baseline DHEA-S concentrations. The levels of glucose, insulin, blood pressure, and stress hormones (growth hormone, testosterone, and cortisol) in both groups were compared before and after hot spring immersion. The result shows that hot spring immersion significantly increased heart rate and reduced diastolic blood pressure, both of which were paralleled with a drop of DHEA-S concentration. Homeostasis model assessment for insulin resistance (HOMA-IR) and area under curve of glucose (GAUC) of oral glucose tolerance test were significantly increased by the hot spring immersion only in the Low DHEA-S group. Likewise, hot spring immersion caused an opposing effect on cortisol changes for the Low and High DHEA-S groups (+95% vs. -33%, p<0.05), respectively. In conclusion, hot spring bathing induced insulin resistance confined only to those Low DHEA-S individuals. This response may be associated with a stress response such as increased cortisol levels.
The survival and well-being of all species requires appropriate physiological responses to environmental and homeostatic challenges. The re- establishment and maintenance of homeostasis entails the coordinated activation and control of neuroendocrine and autonomic stress systems. These collective stress responses are mediated by largely overlapping circuits in the limbic forebrain, the hypothalamus and the brainstem, so that the respective contributions of the neuroendocrine and autonomic systems are tuned in accordance with stressor modality and intensity. Limbic regions that are responsible for regulating stress responses intersect with circuits that are responsible for memory and reward, providing a means to tailor the stress response with respect to prior experience and anticipated outcomes.
Executive functioning (EF) refers to the set of neurocognitive processes that facilitate novel problem solving, modification of behavior in response to environmental changes, planning and generating strategies for complex actions, and ability to override pre-potent behavioral and emotional responses to engage in goal-directed behavior.
To provide an overview of research on individual differences in EF and examine the extent to which these individual differences confer risk and resilience for poor stress regulation.
Review of the literature suggests that individual differences in EF are evident at multiple levels of analysis including genotype, endophenotype (e.g., performance on cognitive tasks), and phenotype (e.g., temperament and personality). These individual differences are associated with differential stress exposure, reactivity, recovery, and restorative processes.
A theoretical framework that includes individual differences in EF will inform behavioral medicine research on stress risk and resilience.
Bidirectional associations between mood disorders and cardiovascular diseases are extensively documented. However, the precise physiological and biochemical mechanisms that underlie such relationships are not well understood. This review focuses on the neurobiological processes and mediators that are common to both mood and cardiovascular disorders. The discussion places an emphasis on the role of exogenous stressors in addition to: (a) neuroendocrine and neurohumoral changes involving dysfunction of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis and the activation of the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system, (b) immune alterations including activation of pro-inflammatory cytokines, (c) autonomic and cardiovascular dysregulation including increased sympathetic drive, withdrawal of parasympathetic tone, cardiac rate and rhythm disturbances, and altered baroreceptor reflex function, (d) central neurotransmitter system dysfunction involving the dopamine, norepinephrine and serotonin systems, and (e) behavioral changes including fatigue and physical inactivity. The review also discusses experimental investigations using preclinical disease models to elucidate the neurobiological mechanisms underlying the link between mood disorders and cardiovascular disease. These include: (a) the chronic mild stress model of depression, (b) a model of congestive heart failure, (c) a model of cardiovascular deconditioning, (d) pharmacological manipulations of body fluid and sodium balance, and (e) pharmacological manipulations of the central serotonergic system. In combination with an extensive human research literature, the investigation of mechanisms underlying mood and cardiovascular regulation using animal models will enhance understanding the association between depression and cardiovascular disease. This will ultimately promote the development of better treatments and interventions for individuals with co-morbid psychological and somatic pathologies.
DHEA and DHEAS are steroids synthesized in human adrenals, but their function is unclear. In addition to adrenal synthesis, evidence also indicates that DHEA and DHEAS are synthesized in the brain, further suggesting a role of these hormones in brain function and development. Despite intensifying research into the biology of DHEA and DHEAS, many questions concerning their mechanisms of action and their potential involvement in neuropsychiatric illnesses remain unanswered. We review and distill the preclinical and clinical data on DHEA and DHEAS, focusing on (i) biological actions and putative mechanisms of action, (ii) differences in endogenous circulating concentrations in normal subjects and patients with neuropsychiatric diseases, and (iii) the therapeutic potential of DHEA in treating these conditions. Biological actions of DHEA and DHEAS include neuroprotection, neurite growth, and antagonistic effects on oxidants and glucocorticoids. Accumulating data suggest abnormal DHEA and/or DHEAS concentrations in several neuropsychiatric conditions. The evidence that DHEA and DHEAS may be fruitful targets for pharmacotherapy in some conditions is reviewed.
We developed a multidimensional coping inventory to assess the different ways in which people respond to stress. Five scales (of four items each) measure conceptually distinct aspects of problem-focused coping (active coping, planning, suppression of competing activities, restraint coping, seeking of instrumental social support); five scales measure aspects of what might be viewed as emotional-focused coping (seeking of emotional social support, positive reinterpretation, acceptance, denial, turning to religion); and three scales measure coping responses that arguably are less useful (focus on and venting of emotions, behavioral disengagement, mental disengagement). Study 1 reports the development of scale items. Study 2 reports correlations between the various coping scales and several theoretically relevant personality measures in an effort to provide preliminary information about the inventory's convergent and discriminant validity. Study 3 uses the inventory to assess coping responses among a group of undergraduates who were attempting to cope with a specific stressful episode. This study also allowed an initial examination of associations between dispositional and situational coping tendencies.
After reporting dispositional coping styles, students reported situational coping and 4 classes of affect (from threat, challenge, harm, and benefit appraisals) 2 days before an exam, after the exam but before grades were posted, and after posting of grades. Coping did not predict lower levels of future distress; indeed, some coping seemed to induce feelings of threat. Feelings of harm before the exam induced several kinds of coping after the exam, mostly dysfunctional. Confidence about one's grade was a better predictor of emotions throughout than was coping. Dispositional coping predicted comparable situational coping at low-moderate levels in most cases. Coping dispositions did not reliably predict emotions, however, with these exceptions: Dispositional denial was related to threat, as was dispositional use of social support; dispositional use of alcohol was related to both threat and harm.
This paper describes a protocol for induction of moderate psychological stress in a laboratory setting and evaluates its effects on physiological responses. The 'Trier Social Stress Test' (TSST) mainly consists of an anticipation period (10 min) and a test period (10 min) in which the subjects have to deliver a free speech and perform mental arithmetic in front of an audience. In six independent studies this protocol has been found to induce considerable changes in the concentration of ACTH, cortisol (serum and saliva), GH, prolactin as well as significant increases in heart rate. As for salivary cortisol levels, the TSST reliably led to 2- to 4-fold elevations above baseline with similar peak cortisol concentrations. Studies are summarized in which TSST-induced cortisol increases elucidated some of the multiple variables contributing to the interindividual variation in adrenocortical stress responses. The results suggest that gender, genetics and nicotine consumption can influence the individual's stress responsiveness to psychological stress while personality traits showed no correlation with cortisol responses to TSST stimulation. From these data we conclude that the TSST can serve as a tool for psychobiological research.
The study examined the role of parental death and chronic depression with severe episodes in affecting risk of breast cancer. This avenue of research is in accord with oncology findings, which suggests that causative factors of breast cancer occur and develop over a period of 20 years or longer.
Participants consisted of 1213 women in the Baltimore Epidemiologic Catchment Area study surveyed in 1980 and followed through 1994-1995. They were assessed for depressive and anxious disorders, paternal death in childhood and relatively recent adverse life events prior to cancer hospitalization.
In the course of the study, 29 women were hospitalized for breast cancer and 10 died of breast cancer. The psychosocial variables that predicted increased risk of breast cancer were maternal death in childhood (OR = 2.56, P < 0.001) and chronic depression with severe episodes (OR = 14.0, P < 0.001). Neither relatively recent life events nor other depressive and anxiety disorders were associated with increased risk. Maternal death and chronic depression with severe episodes were reported to have occurred at least 20 years prior to breast cancer hospitalization.
Maternal death and chronic and severe depression occurred at least 20 years prior to breast cancer hospitalization and could have been involved in the causation or facilitation of cancer development. The authors suggest that meta-analysis of other prospective studies are needed to create larger groups of individuals with these stresses to confidently establish these variables as risk factors.
Theory and research on self-monitoring have accumulated into a sizable literature on the impact of variation in the extent to which people cultivate public appearances in diverse domains of social functioning. Yet self-monitoring and its measure, the Self-Monitoring Scale, are surrounded by controversy generated by conflicting answers to the critical question, Is self-monitoring a unitary phenomenon? A primary source of answers to this question has been largely neglected--the Self-Monitoring Scale's relations with external criteria. We propose a quantitative method to examine the self-monitoring literature and thereby address major issues of the controversy. Application of this method reveals that, with important exceptions, a wide range of external criteria tap a dimension directly measured by the Self-Monitoring Scale. We discuss what this appraisal reveals about with self-monitoring is and is not.
Dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) is a steroid that shows a marked age-related decline in humans. Previous research suggests potential for DHEA replacement in old age to enhance cognition and well-being. We conducted a clinical trial to test these hypotheses in a non-clinical sample of 46 men aged 62–76. Participants received either 50 mg DHEA daily for 13 weeks, followed by placebo for 13 weeks, or the reverse, in a randomised double-blind cross-over trial design. Levels of salivary cortisol and DHEA were measured at 0800 h and 2000 h prior to each assessment session. Cognition was assessed with tests of speed, attention and episodic memory. Well-being was measured with questionnaires of mood and perceived health. Mood questionnaires were completed at the assessment session as well as concurrently with saliva sampling.
Elevated basal cortisol levels are a feature of depressive illness and cause deficits in learning and memory. The adrenal steroid dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) has antiglucocorticoid properties that may offer protection against the deleterious effects of cortisol. The authors examined the ratio of cortisol to DHEA in drug-free depressed patients and a matched comparison group.
Cortisol and DHEA were measured in saliva samples from 39 patients with unipolar depression who had been medication free for at least 6 weeks and 41 healthy comparison subjects.
The molar cortisol-DHEA ratio was significantly higher in the depressed patients than in the healthy comparison subjects. Cortisol-DHEA ratios from saliva samples taken at 8:00 p.m. correlated positively with length of current depressive episode.
Elevated cortisol-DHEA ratios may be a state marker of depressive illness and may contribute to the associated deficits in learning and memory. Administration of DHEA or other antiglucocorticoid treatments may reduce neurocognitive deficits in major depression.
An important issue for the nursing education system in Taiwan is to reinforce nursing education to enhance competence levels for entry to nursing specialties. Consequently, to meet the prospective demands of technical manpower, not only do nursing students in college and vocational schools pursue further studies, but they also take competitive entrance exams. Using a descriptive cross-sectional design, the study examined the following among nursing students in vocational high schools: (1) perception and sources of entrance exam stress and use of coping behaviors; (2) the effect of difference in entrance exam stress levels on coping behaviors used, and (3) measurement of coping function to determine which coping behavior works best for buffering the impact of stress on psychological health during a preparatory stage of a college and university entrance exam. The subjects were 441 third-year nursing students of vocational high schools in northern Taiwan, recruited by convenience sampling. Three measurements were adopted: Stress perceived scale, Coping behavior inventory, and a Chinese health questionnaire. Results showed that the five main stressors of entrance exam stress, in descending order, were taking tests, the student’s own aspirations, learning tasks, teacher’s aspirations and parent’s aspirations. Students generally used problem-focused coping strategies including optimistic action and social support to deal with the entrance exam stress, but use of emotion-focused coping strategies including avoidance and emotional disturbance was significantly increased as perceived level of stress rose. Two-way analyses of variance (2-way ANOVA) revealed that problem-focused coping had a positive main effect of alleviating psychological distress. A significant interaction was observed between stress perceived and problem-focused coping used for psychological health. Further examination of the interaction effect showed that problem-focused coping behaviors were potentially more adaptive in relation to psychological health at the lower and moderate stress levels (25 - 75%T) than that at the extreme stress level (75%T). Conversely, emotion-focused coping had a negative main effect or impairing psychological health. No interaction effect was found between stress perceived and emotion-focused coping used, suggesting that the relationship between emotion-focused coping and psychological distress was consistent across various stress levels.
In the U.S., more students drop out of college than graduate—yet six out of every 10 jobs require a postsecondary education. What causes so many students to squander their future?
The study compared the predictive value of locus of control and coping flexibility on student burnout. Two hundred and seventy-three Chinese university students completed the Chinese version of the Maslach Burnout Inventory - Student Survey (MBI-SS; Schaufeli, Martinez, Marques-Pinto, Salanova, & Bakker, 2002), the Coping Flexibility Inventory (CFI; Zhang, Gan, & Zhang, 2005), and Rotter's Internal-External Scale (1966). Results indicated that the construct of coping flexibility was composed of perceived controllability and strategy-situation fit, which negatively predicted burnout. Coping flexibility accounted for significant incremental variance beyond locus of control in predicting the three dimensions of burnout. The results provided evidence for the advantage of a person-situation interactional construct in predicting behavior, compared to its personality counterpart.
We explored the moderating effect of exam-related coping strategies on the relationships between test anxiety, negative mood and salivary cortisol. Fifty undergraduate students participated, with 29 in the academic examination group and 21 in the comparison group. Across groups, worry was associated with higher levels of negative mood before, during and after the exam or homework period. However, avoidance coping moderated this effect such that there was a strong positive relationship between worry and negative mood when avoidance coping was low, but not when avoidance coping has high. Negative mood on the day of the study correlated positively with the number of illness symptoms reported 3 days later. Our results suggest that coping strategies used to deal with academic examination stress dynamically moderate the effects of test anxiety on negative mood. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
This article compares the stress, active coping, and academic performance of college students who persisted through an academic year with the same measures among a group of students who left after the fall semester. The hypothesis that stress is related to active coping efforts among persisters, but not among nonpersisters, was strongly supported. However, the hypothesis that stress is related to higher grade point averages (GPAs) among persisters and lower GPAs among nonpersisters was not strongly supported. Stress had a negative effect on GPA among persisters, but there was some evidence of a positive indirect effect through active coping efforts. Finally, a logistic regression analysis found that active coping, thinking it was important to get to know other students, gender, enrollment in more credit hours, GPA, and not being employed lead to greater retention. Active coping was strongly related to retention, and men were more likely to persist. The study provides support for the idea that social support is an active form of coping and that behavioral measures of active coping may be beneficial in studying the relationship between stress and coping.
Greek women diagnosed with breast cancer reported on their coping efforts and levels of distress the day before surgery, 3days
after surgery, and 3months later. Acceptance and humor were negatively related to distress at all three time points, whereas
denial and emotional expression were positively related to distress post-surgery and 3months later. The relationship between
patterns of coping and distress was also examined. Specifically, participants who used emotion-focused engagement coping at
pre-surgery, that is, acceptance or emotional expression combined with social support, experienced less distress 3months
later than participants who did not use any emotion-focused engagement coping. Finally, flexibility, defined as the use of
multiple coping strategies, was found to negatively predict distress. The results indicate that pre-surgery use of emotion-focused
engagement coping can be adaptive and that the adaptiveness of each strategy may vary as the stressor evolves.
Recent advances on the neurobiology of posttraumatic stress disorder include: the utilization of functional brain imaging; the incorporation of cross-system research including neuroendocrine (hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal and hypothalamic–pituitary–thyroid axes), neurochemical (corticotropin-releasing factor, norepinephrine, serotonin, endogenous opiates), and neuroimmunological (humoral and cellular immunity) systems; the expansion beyond exclusive study of combat veterans to include posttraumatic stress disorder patients suffering from noncombat traumas; and the development of animal models of traumatic stress.
Objective:
Hypercortisolaemia has been well described in depression and may be a factor associated with treatment resistance. The role of the more abundant adrenal steroid dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) has been recently investigated, with some evidence that it may have an antiglucocorticoid effect. This study measured cortisol, DHEA and their ratio in treatment resistant depression (TRD) and healthy controls and also related these measures to treatment outcome.
Method:
Plasma cortisol, DHEA and cortisol/DHEA ratio were determined at 0900h in 28 patients with TRD and 40 healthy controls. The measures were repeated following inpatient treatment in a subgroup of 21 patients and related to the outcome of such treatment. The stability of cortisol/DHEA ratios was assessed with 2 hourly samples from 0900 to 1700h in a subgroup of 15 controls.
Results:
Basal levels of cortisol and the cortisol/DHEA ratio were higher in patients compared to controls. Whilst cortisol levels were lower after treatment, there was no relationship between cortisol levels and treatment outcome. In contrast, treatment responders had significantly lower DHEA on admission and a higher cortisol/DHEA ratio both on admission and on discharge. Cortisol/DHEA ratios were stable between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m.
Conclusions:
In addition to cortisol, the cortisol/DHEA ratio is raised in TRD; thus, there is no evidence that DHEA levels could negate the increased glucocorticoid activity in TRD. Patients with a more abnormal cortisol/DHEA ratio, possibly indicating greater biological dysfunction, responded preferentially to inpatient therapy, though the raised cortisol/DHEA ratio persisted after response. The cortisol/DHEA ratio is stable throughout the day and may be a more practical biological marker of TRD.
The available research indicates that the prevalence of stress is increasing among students studying in higher education. Issues such as student retention and student progression are becoming increasingly important for all universities. There are a significant number of studies that have examined stress and this paper critically reviews that research and identifies several issues that as yet have not been explored. The paper also highlights a number of key weaknesses in the current literature base. In previous studies there has been a focus on a quantitative approach, and research studies have been restricted to using as subjects individuals from a narrow range of disciplines. It is also suggested that there is a need to undertake longitudinal research to investigate individuals' stress experiences during the period they study at university. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
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Theoretical statements, as well as clinical and experimental data, suggest that the amplitude of cardiovascular reactivity to acute stressors can be a good predictor of preclinical and clinical cardiovascular states. The aim of the present study is to investigate the role of estrogens, the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenocortical activity, and the behavioral profile in individual cardiac autonomic reactivity to brief laboratory stressors in women. Thirty-six adult, healthy women were exposed to a stress interview and a mental task test, each lasting 5 min. They were assigned to two experimental groups: D4, i.e. 4 days after menses beginning (follicular phase, n=18), and D14, i.e. 14 days after menses beginning (ovulatory phase, n=18). The cardiac measurements in the baseline, stress and recovery periods consisted in heart rate (average R-R interval) and parasympathetic tone (r-MSSD) quantification, while the HPA axis activity and stress reactivity were assessed via plasma cortisol and dehydroepiandrosterone concentrations. The ethological profile during the interview was drawn by means of non-verbal behavior analysis. The cardiac, adrenocortical and behavioral responses to the two stressors were similar in groups D4 and D14, despite significantly higher estradiol levels in the latter. Subjects with higher pre-stress cortisol levels had higher heart rate and lower vagal activity in the baseline, stress and recovery phases. Women showing higher level of submission were characterized by higher heart rate acceleration and vagal withdrawal during both the interview and the recovery phase. In addition, the subjects that exhibited greater displacement during the interview were also characterized by lower heart rate increments and less pronounced vagal suppression during post-stress recovery. In conclusion, the present results do not support a clear buffering role of estrogens in cardiovascular response to acute stressors. However, they confirm that baseline HPA axis activity can be predictive of cardiac autonomic activity and stress responsiveness. They also highlight the modulating role of the individual style of behavioral coping in cardiac sympathovagal stress reactivity. Therefore, the objective assessment of the individual behavioral profile via the analysis of non-verbal communication patterns might represent a powerful tool for identifying subjects with higher risk of cardiac events.
To examine the association between allostatic load (AL), an index of multisystem physiological dysregulation, and frailty development over a 3-year follow-up in a sample of older adults.
Longitudinal cohort study.
Community.
High-functioning men and women aged 70 to 79 at study entry.
Multisystem physiological dysregulation, or AL, was assessed according to 13 biomarkers of cardiovascular, endocrine, immune, and metabolic function. An AL score was computed as the total number of biomarkers for which participant values fell into high-risk biomarker quartiles. Frailty status (not frail, intermediate frail, frail) was determined according to the total number of five indicators of frailty: weight loss, exhaustion, weak grip, slow gait, and low physical activity. The association between level of AL at baseline and frailty status 3 years later was examined using ordinal logistic regression in 803 participants not frail at baseline.
In a multivariable model adjusting for sociodemographic, health, and behavioral characteristics, each 1-unit increase in AL at baseline was associated with a 10% greater likelihood of frailty at the 3-year follow-up (cumulative adjusted odds ratio=1.10, 95% confidence interval=1.03-1.19).
These findings support the hypothesis that dysregulation across multiple physiological systems is associated with greater risk of frailty. Greater levels of multisystem physiological dysregulation may serve as a warning sign of frailty development in later life.
To highlight recent publications in the area of stress and coping, with specific reference to women's physical health status.
The transactional model of stress and coping continues to be the mainstay of research in this area. Several longitudinal studies have demonstrated that stress appraisal and resultant coping responses affect health outcome and health-related quality of life in women. In addition to problem-focused coping, women often use distraction methods, seeking social support and faith or religious coping. Psychological interventions in chronic medical conditions need to move beyond education and incorporate more cognitive behavioral components, at the same time addressing women's specific needs.
Coping behaviors in response to the negative threat appraisal of a chronic or severe medical illness serve to reduce psychological distress. However, it is still not clear how they impact at the physiological level. In addition, coping responses, which enhance positive effects and promote health-related quality of life, merit greater attention from researchers. There is a need for more gender comparative research to improve health outcomes in men and women.
A growing body of research has provided evidence that dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) and dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate (DHEAS) are involved in an organism's response to stress and that it may provide beneficial behavioral and neurotrophic effects.
This study investigated plasma DHEA and DHEAS, cortisol, psychological symptoms of dissociation, and military performance in 41 healthy active duty subjects enrolled in the military Combat Diver Qualification Course (CDQC).
Baseline values of DHEA and DHEAS were significantly and positively predictive of superior performance in the underwater navigation exam; in addition, DHEA and DHEAS were significantly and negatively related to stress-induced symptoms of dissociation during performance of the task. Similarly, participants who reported fewer symptoms of dissociation exhibited superior military performance and increased levels of DHEA after the test.
These data provide prospective, empiric evidence that DHEA and DHEAS are associated with superior stress tolerance, fewer symptoms of dissociation, and superior, objectively assessed, military performance.
We demonstrate that the validity of SAT scores and high school grade point averages (GPAs) as predictors of academic performance has been underestimated because of previous studies' reliance on flawed performance indicators (i.e., college GPA) that are contaminated by the effects of individual differences in course choice. We controlled for this contamination by predicting individual course grades, instead of GPAs, in a data set containing more than 5 million college grades for 167,816 students. Percentage of variance accounted for by SAT scores and high school GPAs was 30 to 40% lower when the criteria were freshman and cumulative GPAs than when the criteria were individual course grades. SAT scores and high school GPAs together accounted for between 44 and 62% of the variance in college grades. This study provides new estimates of the criterion-related validity of SAT scores and high school GPAs, and highlights the care that must be taken in choosing appropriate criteria in validity studies.
Every individual experiences stressful life events. In some cases acute or chronic stress leads to depression and other psychiatric disorders, but most people are resilient to such effects. Recent research has begun to identify the environmental, genetic, epigenetic and neural mechanisms that underlie resilience, and has shown that resilience is mediated by adaptive changes in several neural circuits involving numerous neurotransmitter and molecular pathways. These changes shape the functioning of the neural circuits that regulate reward, fear, emotion reactivity and social behaviour, which together are thought to mediate successful coping with stress.
We have previously shown that axonal growth from a subset of sensory neurons was promoted by keratinocytes when the two cell types were co-cultured in a low calcium medium. This phenomenon involves the production of one or several diffusible factors. Here we show that the neuritogenic effect of keratinocytes was significantly reduced in the case of rat primary sensory dorsal root ganglion (DRG) neurons, or completely suppressed in the case of the sensory neuron cell line ND7-23, when the activity of neurotrophin receptors (Trk receptors) was blocked with K252a. This trophic effect apparently involved the activation of tyrosine kinase receptors A and B (TrkA and TrkB) expressed by subpopulations of small- to medium-sized DRG neurons, or only of TrkA receptors in the case of ND7-23 neurons. A residual neurite growth promoting effect of keratinocytes persisted in a fraction of DRG neurons after Trk receptor blockade. This effect was mimicked by the steroid dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) but not by other steroids such as pregnenolone, progesterone or 17beta-estradiol. The use of pharmacological agents which inhibit different steps of steroidogenesis indicated that DHEA was probably synthesized from cholesterol in keratinocytes. Our results strongly suggest that DHEA might act as a neurotrophic signal derived from keratinocytes to promote axonal outgrowth from a subpopulation of sensory neurons.
Exposure to a traumatic event is required for the diagnosis of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The symptoms of PTSD are believed to reflect stress-induced changes in neurobiological systems and/or an inadequate adaptation of neurobiological systems to exposure to severe stressors. More recently, there have been attempts to link the identified neurobiological changes to the specific features that constitute PTSD, such as altered mechanisms of learning and extinction, sensitization to stress, and arousal. Furthermore, there have been efforts to understand whether certain neurobiological changes in PTSD reflect preexisting vulnerability factors rather than consequences of trauma exposure or correlates of PTSD. Genetic variability, sex differences, and developmental exposures to stress influence neurobiological systems and moderate PTSD risk. On the basis of these findings, important hypotheses for developing novel strategies to identify subjects at risk, promote resilience, and devise targets for the prevention or treatment of PTSD can be derived.
The purpose of the present study was to examine Hypothalamus-Pituitary-Adrenal (HPA) axis reactivity in social anxiety. The present study used a standardized psychosocial stress protocol (the Trier Social Stress Test; TSST; [Kirschbaum, C., Pirke, K.M., Hellhammer, D.H., 1993. The 'Trier Social Stress Test'-a tool for investigating psychobiological stress responses in a laboratory setting. Neuropsychobiology 28, 76-81.]) with 11 higher-social-anxiety and 11 lower-social-anxiety male college students. Psychological responses and salivary cortisol and dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) reactivity and cortisol/DHEA ratio were assessed at seven different times. The results showed that there was a significantly lower cortisol responsiveness in the higher social anxiety group but there was no significant difference of DHEA responsiveness. Further analyses showed lower responses for the cortisol/DHEA ratio in the higher-social-anxiety group to the TSST. These results suggest that there may be reduced HPA axis reactivity to psychosocial stress in socially anxious people.
The 5-HT re-uptake inhibitor (SSRI) fluoxetine and the adrenal hormone dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) both increase the proliferation of progenitor cells in the adult hippocampus and also have antidepressant activity. This paper explores the combined ability of fluoxetine and DHEA to affect this process in the dentate gyrus of adult rats. We show that DHEA can render an otherwise ineffective dose of fluoxetine (2.5 mg/kg) able to increase progenitor cell proliferation to the same extent as doses four times higher (10 mg/kg). This synergistic action does not appear to be mediated by alterations in brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) gene expression; or by TrkB, mineralocorticoid, glucocorticoid, or 5-HT (5HT1A) receptor expression in the dentate gyrus; or by altered levels of plasma corticosterone. In a second experiment, the synergism between DHEA and fluoxetine was replicated. Furthermore, flattening the diurnal rhythm of plasma corticosterone by implanting additional corticosterone pellets s.c. prevented the effect of fluoxetine on progenitor cell division. This was not overcome by simultaneous treatment with DHEA, despite the latter's reported anti-glucocorticoid actions. The cellular mechanism for the potentiating action of DHEA on the pro- proliferative effects of fluoxetine in the adult hippocampus remains to be revealed. Since altered neurogenesis has been linked to the onset or recovery from depression, one consequence of these results is to suggest DHEA as a useful adjunct therapy for depression.
This meta-analysis included 729 studies from 161 articles investigating how acute stress responsivity (including stress reactivity and recovery of hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal [HPA] axis, autonomic, and cardiovascular systems) changes with various chronic psychosocial exposures (job stress; general life stress; depression or hopelessness; anxiety, neuroticism, or negative affect; hostility, aggression, or Type-A behavior; fatigue, burnout, or exhaustion; positive psychological states or traits) in healthy populations. In either the overall meta-analysis or the methodologically strong subanalysis, positive psychological states or traits were associated with reduced HPA reactivity. Hostility, aggression, or Type-A behavior was associated with increased cardiovascular (heart rate or blood pressure) reactivity, whereas anxiety, neuroticism, or negative affect was associated with decreased cardiovascular reactivity. General life stress and anxiety, neuroticism, or negative affect were associated with poorer cardiovascular recovery. However, regarding the sympathetic nervous system and parasympathetic nervous system, there were no associations between the chronic psychosocial factors and stress reactivity or recovery. The results largely reflect an integrated stress response pattern of hypo- or hyperactivity depending on the specific nature of the psychosocial background.
Unravelling the pathophysiology of depression is a unique challenge. Not only are depressive syndromes heterogeneous and their aetiologies diverse, but symptoms such as guilt and suicidality are impossible to reproduce in animal models. Nevertheless, other symptoms have been accurately modelled, and these, together with clinical data, are providing insight into the neurobiology of depression. Recent studies combining behavioural, molecular and electrophysiological techniques reveal that certain aspects of depression result from maladaptive stress-induced neuroplastic changes in specific neural circuits. They also show that understanding the mechanisms of resilience to stress offers a crucial new dimension for the development of fundamentally novel antidepressant treatments.
Nerve growth factor (NGF) and brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) are well-studied neurotrophins involved in the neurogenesis, differentiation, growth and maintenance of selected peripheral and central populations of neuronal cells during development and at adulthood. Neurotrophins, in concert to hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis, play a key role in modulating brain plasticity and behavioral coping, especially during ontogenetic critical periods, when developing brain is particularly sensitive to external stimulations. Indeed, early life events, such psychophysical stress, affect NGF and BDNF levels, and induce dysregulation of the HPA axis. Thus, early life experiences can affect brain development, contributing to shape interindividual differences in vulnerability to stress or psychiatric disorders. At adulthood, intermale aggressive interactions in mice, representing a psychosocial stressful condition, has been shown to markedly alter NGF and BDNF levels both in plasma as well as in selected brain areas, including the hypothalamus and hippocampus. These results have been extended to humans, showing that blood NGF levels are enhanced in psychological contexts mainly associated to anxiety and fear, such as first skydiving experience. Recent studies indicate a role for neurotrophins also in vulnerability and resilience to stress-related neuropsychiatric disorders. Overall, these findings suggest a role of neurotrophins as factors mediating both short- and long-term experience effects on brain structure and function.
The impact of ostensibly aversive social stresses on triggering, amplifying and prolonging intensely rewarding drug taking is an apparent contradiction in need of resolution. Social stress encompasses various types of significant life events ranging from maternal separation stress, brief episodes of social confrontations in adolescence and adulthood, to continuous subordination stress, each with its own behavioral and physiological profile. The neural circuit comprising the VTA-accumbens-PFC-amygdala is activated by brief episodes of social stress, which is critical for the DA-mediated behavioral sensitization and increased stimulant consumption. A second neural circuit comprising the raphe-PFC-hippocampus is activated by continuous subordination stress and other types of uncontrollable stress. In terms of the development of therapeutics, brief maternal separation stress has proven useful in characterizing compounds acting on subtypes of GABA, glutamate, serotonin and opioid receptors with anxiolytic potential. While large increases in alcohol and cocaine intake during adulthood have been seen after prolonged maternal separation experiences during the first two weeks of rodent life, these effects may be modulated by additional yet to be identified factors. Brief episodes of defeat stress can engender behavioral sensitization that is relevant to escalated and prolonged self-administration of stimulants and possibly opioids, whereas continuous subordination stress leads to anhedonia-like effects. Understanding the intracellular cascade of events for the transition from episodic to continuous social stress in infancy and adulthood may provide insight into the modulation of basic reward processes that are critical for addictive and affective disorders.
We investigated dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) secretion in response to acute psychosocial stress and the relations of DHEA secretion to cortisol secretion, cardiovascular activity, and negative mood changes. Thirty-three male students (mean age 22.6 years) were subjected to the psychosocial stress test "Trier Social Stress Test" (TSST), in which the participants were asked to deliver a speech and perform a mental arithmetic task in front of two audiences. Collections of saliva, measurements of blood pressure and heart rate, and assessments of negative mood by visual analog scales were conducted before, during, and after TSST. Acute psychosocial stress significantly increased salivary DHEA level by an average of 60% immediately after TSST. The peak of DHEA concentration preceded that of cortisol concentration by about 10 min. DHEA response was moderately correlated to cortisol response (r=.34, r(s)=.49) but not to cardiovascular response. Lower DHEA level and elevated cortisol/DHEA ratio during TSST were significantly and moderately correlated with increased negative mood during and after TSST. These results indicated that an acute increase in DHEA concentration under stressful situations might be partly mediated by the activity of hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal axis and could have some significance in the improvement of negative mood.
We review psychometric and other evidence relevant to mixed anxiety-depression. Properties of anxiety and depression measures, including the convergent and discriminant validity of self- and clinical ratings, and interrater reliability, are examined in patient and normal samples. Results suggest that anxiety and depression can be reliably and validly assessed; moreover, although these disorders share a substantial component of general affective distress, they can be differentiated on the basis of factors specific to each syndrome. We also review evidence for these specific factors, examining the influence of context and scale content on ratings, factor analytic studies, and the role of low positive affect in depression. With these data, we argue for a tripartite structure consisting of general distress, physiological hyperarousal (specific anxiety), and anhedonia (specific depression), and we propose a diagnosis of mixed anxiety-depression.
The purpose of these studies was to explore the role of effort in remembering anagrams and their solutions. In Experiment 1, we compared the effects on memory of copying words, typing them as solutions for easy anagrams, or typing them as solutions for difficult anagrams. Solving anagrams involved more effort than did simply typing words, as indexed by response time. However, this effort facilitated recall for solutions to easy anagrams but not for solutions to difficult anagrams. In Experiment 2, we compared memory for anagrams and their solutions using a frequency-judgment task. Memory for solutions was better than memory for anagrams, and this difference was not affected by anagram difficulty. The results of these studies have implications for our understanding of the role of effort in remembering.
There is widespread conviction among health care professionals that coping affects emotion. Yet theory and research have traditionally emphasized the effects of emotion on coping. The present research addresses this imbalance by evaluating the extent to which coping mediated emotions during stressful encounters in two Caucasian, community-residing samples. Subjects' recently experienced stressful encounters, the ways they coped with the demands of those encounters, and the emotions they experienced during two stages of those encounters were assessed repeatedly. The extent to which eight forms of coping mediated each of four sets of emotions was evaluated with a series of hierarchical regression analyses (of residuals). Coping was associated with changes in all four sets of emotions, with some forms of coping associated with increases in positive emotions and other forms associated with increases in negative emotions.
GROUPS OF SS, 17-46 YR. OLD COLLEGE STUDENTS, WERE USED TO SCALE 925 NOUNS ON ABSTRACTNESS-CONCRETENESS (C), IMAGERY (I), AND MEANINGFULNESS (M). CONCRETENESS WAS DEFINED IN TERMS OF DIRECTNESS OF REFERENCE TO SENSE EXPERIENCE, AND I, IN TERMS OF WORD'S CAPACITY TO AROUSE NONVERBAL IMAGES; C AND I WERE RATED ON 7-POINT SCALES. MEANINGFULNESS WAS DEFINED IN TERMS OF THE MEAN NUMBER OF WRITTEN ASSOCIATIONS IN 30 SEC. THE MEAN SCALE VALUES FOR THESE VARIABLES ARE PRESENTED FOR EACH OF THE 925 NOUNS. ALSO REPORTED ARE THE INTERCORRELATIONS OF THE VARIABLES, TOGETHER WITH AN EXAMINATION OF THE WORDS FOR WHICH C, I, AND M VALUES ARE MOST CLEARLY DIFFERENTIATED; AND RELIABILITY DATA, INCLUDING COMPARISONS WITH SCALE VALUES FOR THE VARIABLES FROM OTHER STUDIES. (45 REF.)
During stress, the activity of the sympathetic nervous system is changed in a global fashion, leading to an increase in cardiovascular
function and a release of adrenal catecholamines. This response is thought to be regulated by a common set of brain neurons
that provide a dual input to the sympathetic preganglionic neurons regulating cardiac and adrenal medullary functions. By
using a double-virus transneuronal labeling technique, the existence of such a set of central autonomic neurons in the hypothalamus
and brainstem was demonstrated. These neurons innervate both of the sympathetic outflow systems and likely function in circumstances
where parallel sympathetic processing occurs, such as in the fight-or-flight response.
The psychometric properties of the Depression Anxiety Stress Scales (DASS) were evaluated in a normal sample of N = 717 who were also administered the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) and the Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI). The DASS was shown to possess satisfactory psychometric properties, and the factor structure was substantiated both by exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis. In comparison to the BDI and BAI, the DASS scales showed greater separation in factor loadings. The DASS Anxiety scale correlated 0.81 with the BAI, and the DASS Depression scale correlated 0.74 with the BDI. Factor analyses suggested that the BDI differs from the DASS Depression scale primarily in that the BDI includes items such as weight loss, insomnia, somatic preoccupation and irritability, which fail to discriminate between depression and other affective states. The factor structure of the combined BDI and BAI items was virtually identical to that reported by Beck for a sample of diagnosed depressed and anxious patients, supporting the view that these clinical states are more severe expressions of the same states that may be discerned in normals. Implications of the results for the conceptualisation of depression, anxiety and tension/stress are considered, and the utility of the DASS scales in discriminating between these constructs is discussed.
The psychometric properties of the Depression Anxiety Stress Scales (DASS) were evaluated in two studies using large clinical samples (N = 437 and N = 241). In Study 1, the three scales comprising the DASS were shown to have excellent internal consistency and temporal stability. An exploratory factor analysis (principal components extraction with varimax rotation) yielded a solution that was highly consistent with the factor structure previously found in nonclinical samples. Between-groups comparisons indicated that the DASS distinguished various anxiety and mood disorder groups in the predicted direction. In Study 2, the conceptual and empirical latent structure of the DASS was upheld by findings from confirmatory factor analysis. Correlations between the DASS and other questionnaire and clinical rating measures of anxiety, depression, and negative affect demonstrated the convergent and discriminant validity of the scales. In addition to supporting the psychometric properties of the DASS in clinical anxiety and mood disorders samples, the results are discussed in the context of current conceptualizations of the distinctive and overlapping features of anxiety and depression.
Counterfactual thinking is associated with regulatory focus in a way that explains previous empirical incongruities, such as whether additive counterfactuals (mutations of inactions) occur more or less frequently than subtractive counterfactuals (mutations of actions). In Experiment 1, regulatory focus moderated this pattern, in that additive counterfactuals were activated by promotion failure, whereas subtractive counterfactuals were activated by prevention failure. In Experiment 2, additive counterfactuals evoked a promotion focus and expressed causal sufficiency, whereas subtractive counterfactuals evoked a prevention focus and expressed causal necessity. In Experiment 3, dejection activated additive counterfactuals, whereas agitation activated subtractive counterfactuals. These findings illuminate the interconnections among counterfactual thinking, motivation, and goals.
Lazarus and Folkman proposed one of the most comprehensive theories of stress and coping in the psychology literature, but many of their postulates have received little empirical attention, and some of the existing research hasyielded contradictory findings. This longitudinal study sought to clarify the associations among control appraisal, coping, and stress within this theoreticalframework. The theory postulates that coping strategies used tend to match the level of appraised controllability of the stressor (matching hypothesis). It further states that the effects of problem-focused versus emotion-focused coping are moderated by the appraised controllability of the stressor (goodness-of-fit hypothesis). An alternative to the latter is the main-effects hypothesis, which states that problem-focused coping is generally more effective in reducing distress regardless of appraisal. These hypotheses were tested on 72 adults who completed questionnaires on coping and control appraisal. Stress was assessed using self-report (Symptom Checklist-90-Revised) and a behavioral measure (proofreading task) at two times approximately 2 months apart. Appraised control significantly predicted type of coping such that greater control was associated with more problem-focused and less emotion-focused coping. Although the main-effects hypothesis was not supported, the goodness-of-fit hypothesis was partly confirmed by a significant control by emotion-focused coping interaction predicting both self-report and behavioral measures of stress.