Autonomic reactivity during acute social stress: exploratory investigation of an interaction by threat interpretation bias and emotion regulation difficulties.

Objective: This preliminary study examined the interactive influences of interpretation bias and emotion dysregulation in predicting autonomic stress response.Methods: Participants (N = 72 college students; ages 18-25, 70% female, 47% Hispanic/Latinx), completed a performance-based assessment of threat interpretation bias and self-report measures of emotion regulation difficulties. Electrodermal activity (EDA; skin conductance level) was collected while participants completed a standardized psychosocial stressor task.Results: Interpretation bias and emotion regulation difficulties interacted to predict EDA trajectories (ß = 0.054, SE = .001, CI:.007, .002, p < .001) during acute stress: presence of either interpretation bias toward threat (ß = 6.950, SE = 2.826, CI: 1.407, 12.488, p = .013) or emotion regulation difficulties (ß = 9.387, SE = 3.685, CI: 2.141, 16.636, p = .011) was associated with greater reactivity and poorer recovery; presence of both was associated with the lowest resting state EDA and blunted reactivity (ß = 1.340, SE = 3.085, CI: -4.721, 7.407, p = .66).Conclusions: Preliminary findings support interpretation bias and emotion regulation difficulties, and their distinct interactive patterns, as predictors of autonomic reactivity trajectories during stress. Interpretation bias modification and emotion regulation skills may be important intervention targets for common psychological conditions that are influenced by aberrant psychophysiological processes.

Stress overload in first-generation college students: Implications for intervention.

First-generation college students (FGCS), those whose parents never obtained a baccalaureate, are disadvantaged relative to continuing generation college students (CGCS) in regard to academic performance and health status. The literature documents myriad challenges facing FGCS, in the form of both adjustment demands and limited resources. Stress overload, the pathogenic form of stress, occurs when demands overwhelm coping resources. Its relevance to the plight of FGCS, as well as its established link to dysfunction in other college populations, prompted the present hypotheses: Stress overload (a) would be more prevalent among FGCS than CGCS and (b) could thereby explain their academic and health disparities. Public-university students (n = 593) completed an anonymous online survey assessing stress overload, somatic symptoms, and grades. Analyses of variance (ANOVAs) showed FGCS (n = 366) to report more stress overload than CGCS, even after controlling for specific confounds, as well as lower grades and marginally more symptoms. Path analyses yielded a best-fitting model that showed stress overload to mediate the association between generational status (FGCS vs. CGCS) and grade and symptom levels. In sum, stress-overload maps onto the circumstances of FGCS, provides a common denominator to their myriad challenges, and offers a mechanism to explain their academic performance and health issues. This suggests the utility of stress overload as a screening tool and as a primary focus for therapeutic intervention with FGCS. These implications, the study's limitations, and the need for future research to probe the role of stress overload in the FGCS college experience are discussed. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

Stress overload and the new nightmare for Dreamers.

OBJECTIVE: To determine if, following threats to DACA policies, Dreamer college students experienced greater stress overload, more symptoms, and worse grades than their classmates. Participants: Students (n = 424) from a large public university, including Dreamers (n = 64), participated between March 2017 and June 2018. Methods: Students completed an anonymous online survey containing self-report measures of stress overload, symptoms, grades, and background characteristics. Results: Dreamers reported significantly higher levels of stress overload than did other students, including minorities and immigrants. Dreamers reported more somatic symptoms but not lower grades than other students-outcomes mediated, wholly or partially, by stress overload. Conclusion: Findings document the health toll of current politics on Dreamers, and indicate disproportionate stress overload as a reason. They also attest to Dreamer "grit" in maintaining grades nevertheless. Implications include the need for proactive support by universities and broader social policy change to restore well-being to these students.