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Physiological Reactivity (physiological + reactivity)
Selected AbstractsDefense Mechanisms and Physiological Reactivity to StressJOURNAL OF PERSONALITY, Issue 2 2003Phebe Cramer The relation between the use of defense mechanisms and autonomic nervous system reactivity, under conditions of laboratory stress, was studied in 78 men and women. Both diastolic blood pressure (DBP) and skin conductance level (SCL) were monitored during exposure to ten stress tasks; concurrently, the use of three defense mechanisms was assessed by coding Thematic Apperception Test stories. Autonomic reactivity was found to be related to defenses; the nature of that relation differed across the defenses. DBP, typically found to be associated with cognitive work, was higher in those individuals who used more Identification, a defense that requires greater cognitive activity. The use of Projection, on the other hand, was associated with lower DBP. In addition, the use of Identification showed a tendency to be associated with lower SCL. [source] Stress Regulation in Adolescents: Physiological Reactivity During the Adult Attachment Interview and Conflict InteractionCHILD DEVELOPMENT, Issue 6 2008Mariëlle D. Beijersbergen The current study examined whether adolescents' attachment representations were associated with differences in emotion regulation during the Adult Attachment Interview (AAI; C. George, N. Kaplan, & M. Main, 1996) and during a mother,adolescent conflict interaction task (Family Interaction Task [FIT]; J. P. Allen et al., 2003). Participants were one hundred and fifty-six 14-year-old adolescents. Dismissing adolescents showed less interbeat interval (IBI) reactivity (indicating less stress) during the AAI than secure adolescents. However, during the FIT, dismissing adolescents showed more IBI reactivity. No differences in physiological reactivity were found between individuals with resolved or unresolved loss or trauma during the AAI or FIT. The results indicate that dismissing adolescents may effectively use a defensive strategy during the AAI but less so in direct conflict interaction with their attachment figure. [source] Touch attenuates infants' physiological reactivity to stressDEVELOPMENTAL SCIENCE, Issue 2 2010Ruth Feldman Animal studies demonstrate that maternal touch and contact regulate infant stress, and handling during periods of maternal deprivation attenuates the stress response. To measure the effects of touch on infant stress reactivity during simulated maternal deprivation, 53 dyads were tested in two paradigms: still-face (SF) and still-face with maternal touch (SF+T). Maternal and infant cortisol levels were sampled at baseline, reactivity, and recovery and mother's and infant's cardiac vagal tone were measured during the free play, still-face, and reunion episodes of the procedure. Cortisol reactivity was higher among infants in the SF condition and while cortisol decreased at recovery for infants in the SF+T, it further increased for those in the SF. Vagal tone showed a greater suppression when SF was not accompanied by maternal touch. Touch synchrony during free play was associated with higher infant vagal tone, whereas touch myssynchrony , maternal tactile stimulation while the infant gaze averts , correlated with higher maternal and infant cortisol. In humans, as in mammals, the provision of touch during moments of maternal unavailability reduces infants' physiological reactivity to stress. [source] Contingency Learning and Reactivity in Preterm and Full-Term Infants at 3 MonthsINFANCY, Issue 6 2008David W. Haley Learning difficulties in preterm infants are thought to reflect impairment in arousal regulation. We examined relationships among gestational age, learning speed, and behavioral and physiological reactivity in 55 preterm and 49 full-term infants during baseline, contingency, and nonreinforcement phases of a conjugate mobile paradigm at 3 months corrected age. For all infants, negative affect, looking duration, and heart rate levels increased during contingency and nonreinforcement phases, whereas respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA, an index of parasympathetic activity) decreased and Cortisol did not change. Learners showed greater RSA suppression and less negative affect than nonleamers. This pattern was particularly evident in the preterm group. Overall, preterm infants showed less learning, spent less time looking at the mobile, and had lower Cortisol levels than full-term infants. Preterm infants also showed greater heart rate responses to contingency and dampened heart rate responses to nonreinforcement compared to full-term infants. Findings underscore differences in basal and reactivity measures in preterm compared to full-term infants and suggest that the capacity to regulate parasympathetic activity during a challenge enhances learning in preterm infants. [source] Biological and caregiver correlates of behavioral inhibitionINFANT AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT, Issue 1 2003Ty Partridge Abstract The aim of this study was to explore the relationships among measures of behavioral inhibition, physiological reactivity, and caregiver attitudes. Measures comprised of heart rate; survey assessments of caregiver empathy with the child, appropriateness of caregiver developmental expectations of the child, and use of positive discipline techniques; and observational measures of behavioral inhibition were gathered in a laboratory setting on 72, 5,6-year old children. It was found that heart rate and behavioral inhibition were positively correlated (0.595), whereas behavioral inhibition was negatively correlated with caregiver attitudes of empathy (,0.356), appropriate expectations (,0.366), and use of positive discipline techniques (,0.275). However, there was no correlation between heart rate and caregiver attitudes. These data suggest that physiological reactivity to novel stimuli and caregiver attitudes of empathy, appropriate expectations, and use of positive discipline techniques conjointly influence behavioral inhibition in early childhood. Further, these three caregiver variables accounted for significant variance in children who had high reactive physiological profiles associated with inhibited behavior patterns, but did not display such patterns. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Interpersonal Orientation in Context: Correlates and Effects of Interpersonal Complementarity on Subjective and Cardiovascular ExperiencesJOURNAL OF PERSONALITY, Issue 4 2007Jessi L. Smith ABSTRACT Interpersonal orientation (IO) generally refers to individual differences in preference for social interaction. The influence of IO, however, likely depends on the nature of complementarity within the interpersonal context. Using the interpersonal circumplex and Five-Factor Model, we first selected a measure of IO characterized by affiliation and neuroticism. Second, we examined the influence of IO on subjective, physiological, and nonverbal experiences as a function of experimentally manipulated complementarity or noncomplementarity. We hypothesized that women in noncomplementarity conditions (i.e., women low in IO working with a friendly confederate, women high in IO working with an unfriendly confederate) would experience the interpersonal situation more negatively compared to women in complementarity conditions. Study results confirmed this prediction, with noncomplementarity in IO resulting in greater physiological reactivity, greater likelihood to attempt nonverbally to restore complementarity, more partner-related thoughts, and a reduced desire to seek out attention compared to women working in complementarity conditions. Implications for research on IO as a person variable are discussed. [source] Effect of Kava and Valerian on human physiological and psychological responses to mental stress assessed under laboratory conditionsPHYTOTHERAPY RESEARCH, Issue 1 2002M. Cropley Abstract This study investigated whether kava or valerian could moderate the effects of psychological stress induced under laboratory conditions in a group of healthy volunteers. Fifty-four participants performed a standardized colour/word mental stress task on two occasions 1 week apart. Blood pressure (BP), heart rate (HR) and subjective ratings of pressure were assessed at rest and during the mental stress task. Following the first session (time 1,=,T1), individuals took a standard dose of kava (n,=,18), or valerian (n,=,18) for 7 days, while the remainder acted as controls (n,=,18). Differences in BP and HR from resting levels were calculated as reactions to the stress task at both time points. At the second session (time 2,=,T2) there was a significant decrease in systolic BP responsivity in both the kava and valerian groups relative to T1, but there were no significant reductions in diastolic BP. Between T1 and T2, the HR reaction to mental stress was found to decline in the valerian group but not in the kava group. Individuals taking kava or valerian reported less pressure during the task at T2 relative to T1. There were no significant differences in BP, HR or subjective reports of pressure between T1 and T2 in the controls. Behavioural performance on the colour/word task did not change between the groups over the two time points. The results suggest that kava and valerian may be beneficial to health by reducing physiological reactivity during stressful situations. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] The Reserve Capacity Model as a Framework for Understanding Psychosocial Factors in Health DisparitiesAPPLIED PSYCHOLOGY: HEALTH AND WELL-BEING, Issue 1 2009Linda C. Gallo Substantial research has identified a robust, linear association between socioeconomic status (SES) and health, across many different populations and outcomes. Among myriad influences, psychosocial factors may contribute to SES-related gradients in health. In the current manuscript, we describe the Reserve Capacity Model (Gallo & Matthews, 2003) as a potential framework through which to examine psychosocial pathways in health disparities. The model posits that SES is connected to health, in part through associations with stress and concomitant negative emotions, and their subsequent links with bio-behavioral functioning. In addition, low SES may predict enhanced emotional and physiological reactivity to stress due to a deficiency in resilient psychosocial resources (i.e. "reserve capacity") and limited opportunities to replenish resource reserves. In addition, resources might represent a direct mediational pathway from SES to health. We describe several studies in which we have examined various tenets of the Reserve Capacity Model, and comment on future research directions to better understand the roles of psychosocial variables in health disparities. [source] Stress Regulation in Adolescents: Physiological Reactivity During the Adult Attachment Interview and Conflict InteractionCHILD DEVELOPMENT, Issue 6 2008Mariëlle D. Beijersbergen The current study examined whether adolescents' attachment representations were associated with differences in emotion regulation during the Adult Attachment Interview (AAI; C. George, N. Kaplan, & M. Main, 1996) and during a mother,adolescent conflict interaction task (Family Interaction Task [FIT]; J. P. Allen et al., 2003). Participants were one hundred and fifty-six 14-year-old adolescents. Dismissing adolescents showed less interbeat interval (IBI) reactivity (indicating less stress) during the AAI than secure adolescents. However, during the FIT, dismissing adolescents showed more IBI reactivity. No differences in physiological reactivity were found between individuals with resolved or unresolved loss or trauma during the AAI or FIT. The results indicate that dismissing adolescents may effectively use a defensive strategy during the AAI but less so in direct conflict interaction with their attachment figure. [source] Individual differences in psychophysiological reactivity in adults with childhood abuseCLINICAL PSYCHOLOGY AND PSYCHOTHERAPY (AN INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF THEORY & PRACTICE), Issue 4 2002Christian G. Schmahl Little is known about the neurobiological correlates of stress-related disorders. In particular almost nothing is known about biological correlates of specific personality disorders that have been linked to stress. We measured heart rate and blood pressure reactivity in response to personalized traumatic scripts together with subjective psychological ratings in four women with a history of childhood abuse with no disorder, Posttraumatic Stress Disorder, Borderline Personality Disorder, and Histrionic Personality Disorder. Psychophysiology as well as subjective ratings differed markedly between the four women, with elevated reactions found in PTSD and histrionic personality, and extreme decline in physiological reactivity associated with a dissociative response in the borderline patient. It is concluded that reactivity to traumatic reminders can be correlated with the existence of different stress-related diagnoses. Personality characteristics seem to have an influence on psychophysiological reactivity in patients with stress-related psychiatric disorders. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] | |||||||||||||