CoChat
Sign Up
Cited by 106Stress Responses and CortisolPhysical Activity and HealthAnxiety, Depression, Psychometrics, Treatment, Cognitive Processes

Physical activity moderates effects of stressor-induced rumination on cortisol reactivity

Open access
Puterman, Eli, O'Donovan, Aoife, Adler, Nancy E., Tomiyama, A. Janet, Kemeny, Margaret, Wolkowitz, Owen M., Epel, Elissa·2011·Psychosomatic Medicine
DOI 10.1097/psy.0b013e318229e1e0PMC PMC3167008
Open this paper in CoChat — free account

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: Physically active individuals have lower rates of morbidity and mortality, and recent evidence indicates that physical activity may be particularly beneficial to those experiencing chronic stress. The tendency to ruminate increases and prolongs physiological stress responses, including hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis responses as indexed by cortisol reactivity to stressful experiences. We examined the association between ruminating in response to a laboratory stressor task and HPA axis reactivity and recovery and examined whether a physically active life-style moderates the associations between rumination and cortisol output trajectories. METHODS: Forty-six postmenopausal women underwent the Trier Social Stress Test, whereas salivary cortisol was repeatedly measured. Twenty-five minutes after the end of the stressor, participants reported level of rumination in response to the stress. RESULTS: Findings indicate that physical activity moderated the initial rate (B = -0.10, standard error = 0.04, p < .05) and curvature (B = -0.03, standard error = 0.01, p = .06) of the relationship between rumination and log-transformed cortisol trajectory. Among sedentary participants, those who responded to the stressor with higher levels of rumination had a more rapid initial increase in cortisol level (0.26 versus 0.21, p < .001), a later peak in cortisol reactivity (56 versus 39 minutes), and a delayed recovery from stress (curvature: -0.07 versus -0.08, p < .001) compared with those with lower levels of rumination. In active participants, cortisol trajectories were equivalent, regardless of the level of rumination. CONCLUSIONS: In sum, individuals who maintain a physically active life-style may be protected against the effects of rumination on HPA axis reactivity to and recovery from acute stress.

The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.

Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.

A few free checks a day · papers already verified open instantly · results are public

Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.1097/psy.0b013e318229e1e0

Cites

94 of 94 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

Statistics

Claims the paper makes

The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.

Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.

A few free checks a day · papers already verified open instantly · results are public

Claims other papers make about this one

Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?

  • While rumination prolongs the hypothalamic pituitary adrenal (HPA) axis response to an acute stressor in sedentary adults, it has no such effect on those with a healthy lifestyle.

    “For example, while rumination prolongs the hypothalamic pituitary adrenal (HPA) axis response to an acute stressor in sedentary adults, it has no such effect on those with a healthy lifestyle (Puterman et al., 2011).”

    From More than a feeling: A unified view of stress measurement for population science (2018) · cites this paper as Puterman et al., 2011

    The Results sections report slower cortisol recovery among sedentary high ruminators and no association between rumination and cortisol trajectories among physically active participants. But the study examined post-menopausal women, not adults generally, and measured physical activity rather than a broadly defined healthy lifestyle. (LLM, conf=0.88)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured

  • The majority of studies with humans testing the cross-stressor adaptation hypothesis with exercise and psychological stressors have been quasi-experimental, comparing salivary cortisol released in response to a psychosocial stressor task in adults pre-selected for their fitness or activity levels.

    “The majority of studies with humans testing this cross-stressor adaptation hypothesis with exercise and psychological stressors have been quasi-experimental, comparing sCort released in response to a psychosocial stressor task in adults pre-selected for their fitness or activity levels (Puterman et al., 2012;Rimmele et al., 2007Rimmele et al., , 2009;;Traustadóttir et al., 2005;Wunsch et al., 2019”

    From The effects of exercise intensity on the cortisol response to a subsequent acute psychosocial stressor. (2021) · cites this paper as Puterman et al., 2012

    The introductory passage following the Abstract > Conclusions describes previous studies comparing fit and unfit adults’ physiological responses to laboratory mental stress. This paper also measures salivary cortisol after a psychosocial stress task, but its Methods and Discussion show that participants were recruited by caregiving status and their activity was measured afterward—not pre-selected by fitness or activity. The copy does not establish that a majority of studies used the described design. Page numbers are unavailable in our copy. (LLM, conf=0.86)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured

  • Previous work primarily used quasiexperimental designs focusing on active/fit compared to inactive/unfit groups, in which participants were asked to participate in a psychosocial stress task.

    “Previous work primarily used quasiexperimental designs focusing on active/fit compared to inactive/unfit groups (Puterman et al., 2012;Rimmele et al., 2007Rimmele et al., , 2009;;Traustadóttir et al., 2005), in which participants were asked to participate in a psychosocial stress task.”

    From The effects of exercise intensity on the cortisol response to a subsequent acute psychosocial stressor. (2021) · cites this paper as Puterman et al., 2012

  • Increased fitness and frequent aerobic exercise benefit the physiological responses to psychosocial stressors.

    “While research has demonstrated the benefits of increased fitness and frequent aerobic exercise in terms of the physiological responses to psychosocial stressors (Puterman et al., 2012;Rimmele et al., 2009Rimmele et al., , 2007;;Traustadóttir et al., 2005), in this study we explored whether the intensity of a single bout of exercise alters the physiological impact of an acute psychosocial stressor”

    From The effects of exercise intensity on the cortisol response to a subsequent acute psychosocial stressor. (2021) · cites this paper as Puterman et al., 2012

Self-check

Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.

The self-check needs the paper’s full text.

Cites

Flagged first, then by citations

Research works printed but not linked: 3

  1. [42]Nolen-Hoeksema S Morrow J A prospective study of depression and posttraumatic stress symptoms after a natural disaster: The 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake J Pers Soc Psychol 1991 61 1 115 121 1890582
  2. [60]Brosschot JF Pieper S Thayer JF Expanding stress theory: Prolonged activation and perseverative cognition Psychoneuroendocrinology 2005 30 10 1043 1049 15939546
  3. [86]Perseghin G Price TB Petersen KF Roden M Cline GW Gerow K Rothman DL Shulman GI Increased glucose transport-phosphorylation and muscle glycogen synthesis after exercise training in insulin-resistant subjects N Engl J Med 1996 335 18 1357 8857019

Cited by

Sorted by citations

Related

Authors
Puterman, E., O'Donovan, A., Adler, N. E., Tomiyama, A. J., Kemeny, M., Wolkowitz, O. M., & Epel, E.
Affiliations
  • University of California, San Francisco (US)
  • Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey (US)
Corresponding author
Puterman, Eli
ORCID
Venue
Psychosomatic Medicine
Publisher
Ovid Technologies (Wolters Kluwer Health)
Published
2011-09
Volume
73
Issue
7
Pages
604-611
ISSN
0033-3174 (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.1097/psy.0b013e318229e1e0
PMC
PMC3167008
OpenAlex
W2044935059
Cited by
106
References
94
Citations by year
2026: 4 · 2025: 13 · 2024: 5 · 2023: 7 · 2022: 6 · 2021: 6 · 2020: 8 · 2019: 10 · 2018: 7 · 2017: 10 · 2016: 7 · 2015: 7 · 2014: 6 · 2013: 7 · 2012: 3
FWCI
2.00
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Psychosomatic Medicine (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (acceptedVersion)
  • PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
  • eScholarship (California Digital Library) (submittedVersion)
Funders
  • National Institute on Aging (R56AG030424)
  • National Institute of Mental Health (K08MH064110)
Topics
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Behavioral Neuroscience › Stress Responses and Cortisol
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Physiology › Physical Activity and Health
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Anxiety, Depression, Psychometrics, Treatment, Cognitive Processes
Keywords
rumination, physical activity, cortisol response, hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis, acute stress, salivary cortisol, cortisol recovery, moderation, postmenopausal women, Trier Social Stress Test, sedentary lifestyle
MeSH terms
Aged, Aged, 80 and over, Female, Humans, Hydrocortisone, Middle Aged, Motor Activity, Psychological Tests, Saliva, Stress, Psychological, Thinking, Body Mass Index, Sedentary Behavior

About these checks

Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.

Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.

Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.

What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›

Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review