Objective negative evaluation level, perceived stress, and autonomic reactivity in a lab-based stress induction : a test of moderated mediation in a three-variable system
- UNCG Author/Contributor (non-UNCG co-authors, if there are any, appear on document)
- Rachel E Suresky (Creator)
- Institution
- The University of North Carolina at Greensboro (UNCG )
- Web Site: http://library.uncg.edu/
- Advisor
- Suzanne Vrshek-Schallhorn
Abstract: Objective stress exposure, the impartial level of threat, and perceptions of stress, the level of threat a person endorses feeling, are important constructs in biopsychosocial research on internalizing psychopathology risk. One stress responsive physiological system that is integral to physical health and implication in mental health outcomes is the autonomic nervous system (ANS). Perceived stress is likely to be one mechanism (i.e., mediator) via which objective stress exerts an effect on ANS reactivity, but also the relationship between perceived stress and ANS reactivity may intensify as objective stress increases (i.e., moderation)—that is, potential moderated mediation in a three-variable system. The present study investigated the role of stress exposure and perceived stress in the activation of multimodal ANS indicators in 128 healthy undergraduates. Participants were randomized to three distinct objective levels of negative evaluation in a laboratory-based stress induction, variations of the Trier Social Stress Test (TSST): a non-stressful control (n = 44), an intermediate ambiguously negative evaluative condition (n = 46), and an explicit negative evaluative condition (n = 38). Indicators of autonomic functioning, salivary alpha amylase (sAA), systolic and diastolic blood pressure (SBP, DBP) and heart rate (HR) were measured repeatedly to gauge TSST reactivity. For each of the four ANS indicators (sAA, SBP, DBP, and HR), I hypothesized that I would observe significant moderated mediation in a three-variable system (a relatively novel statistical approach), in which increasing objective negative evaluation level (1) directly predicts increased reactivity in ANS indicators, (2) is mediated by perceived stress in the pathway to ANS reactivity, and (3) also moderates the relationship between perceived stress and ANS indicators, such that the relationship between perceived stress and ANS indicators strengthens as negative evaluation level increases. Findings indicated there was no evidence of moderated mediation. Whereas stress condition (objective negative evaluation level) was strongly related to our measurement of perceived stress (e.g., t = 2.539, p = .011), in contrast it was only weakly related to stress reactivity across ANS indicators, with statistically significant direct effects for only two of the four outcomes (SBP, DBP). Findings help guide future research with investigating more sensitive mediators and outcomes when using multiple manipulations/stress level conditions of the TSST.
Objective negative evaluation level, perceived stress, and autonomic reactivity in a lab-based stress induction : a test of moderated mediation in a three-variable system
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Created on 12/1/2022
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Additional Information
- Publication
- Thesis
- Language: English
- Date: 2022
- Keywords
- Diastolic blood pressure (DBP), Heart rate (HR), Objective stress, Perceived stress, Salivary alpha-amylase (sAA), Systolic blood pressure (SBP)
- Subjects
- Stress (Psychology) $x Physiological aspects
- Autonomic nervous system
- Psychophysiology