Cited by 96Stress Responses and CortisolHeart Rate Variability and Autonomic ControlAdrenal Hormones and Disorders

Timing is everything: anticipatory stress dynamics among cortisol and blood pressure reactivity and recovery in healthy adults

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Juster, Robert-Paul, Perna, Andrea, Marin, Marie-France, Sindi, Shireen, Lupien, Sonia J.·2012·Stress

Abstract

Psychological states of anticipation modulate biological stress responsivity. While researchers generally investigate how subjective distress corresponds to the magnitude of stress reactivity, physiological recovery after acute stressors must also be considered when investigating disease vulnerabilities. This study assessed whether anticipatory stress would correspond to stress reactivity and recovery of salivary cortisol and blood pressure levels in response to a well-validated psychosocial stressor. Thirty participants (63% female; mean ± SEM age 45.4 ± 2.12 years) were exposed to the Trier Social Stress Test (TSST) consisting of a public speech and mental arithmetic. Ten salivary cortisol samples and systolic and diastolic blood pressure recordings were collected at time points spanning 50 min before and up to 50 min after stress exposure. These data were transformed into parameters representing stress reactivity (area under the curve) and stress recovery (percent change). The Primary Appraisal Secondary Appraisal scale assessed anticipatory stress before exposure to the TSST. Our results revealed that increased anticipatory stress predicted increased stress reactivity for cortisol (p = 0.009) but not blood pressure. For stress recovery, increased anticipatory stress predicted greater decrements of cortisol concentration (p = 0.015) and blood pressure (p = 0.039), even when controlling for total systemic "output" by incorporating baseline activity. This efficient shutdown of stress responses would have otherwise been ignored by solely investigating reactive increases. These findings underscore the importance of measuring multiple dynamic parameters such as recovery when investigating physiological stress response patterns as a function of psychosocial factors.

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Crossref · 10.3109/10253890.2012.661494

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  • A more negative anticipatory cognitive stress appraisal is associated with higher cortisol response to stress.

    “Previous studies have shown that a more negative anticipatory cognitive stress appraisal is associated with higher cortisol response to stress (Gaab et al., 2005;Juster et al., 2012; although this result has not always been observed Zandara et al., 2016).”

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Authors
Juster, R.-P., Perna, A., Marin, M.-F., Sindi, S., & Lupien, S. J.
Affiliations
  • University of Ottawa (CA)
  • Université de Montréal (CA)
  • McGill University (CA)
Corresponding author
Lupien, Sonia J.
Venue
Stress
Published
2012-03-14
Volume
15
Issue
6
Pages
569-577
ISSN
  • 1025-3890 (ISSN-L)
  • 1607-8888
OpenAlex
W2107347271
Cited by
96
References
46
Citations by year
2026: 5 · 2025: 6 · 2024: 5 · 2023: 6 · 2022: 8 · 2021: 7 · 2020: 9 · 2019: 6 · 2018: 6 · 2017: 3 · 2016: 10 · 2015: 11 · 2014: 1 · 2013: 7 · 2012: 6
FWCI
3.35
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Stress (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
Funders
  • Canadian Institutes of Health Research (134254)
  • Institute of Gender and Health
Topics
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Behavioral Neuroscience › Stress Responses and Cortisol
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Cardiology and Cardiovascular Medicine › Heart Rate Variability and Autonomic Control
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism › Adrenal Hormones and Disorders
Keywords
anticipatory stress, stress reactivity, stress recovery, salivary cortisol, blood pressure, psychosocial stress, Trier Social Stress Test, primary appraisal, secondary appraisal
MeSH terms
Adult, Blood Pressure, Female, Humans, Hydrocortisone, Male, Middle Aged, Saliva, Stress, Psychological, Anticipation, Psychological

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