Early adversity and cardiovascular stress response: Stress reactivity or sensitivity to context.

OBJECTIVE: The stress reactivity hypothesis (SRH) posits that stressful early environments contribute to exaggerated stress responses, which increase risk for later cardiovascular (CV) disease. However, recent studies have revealed conflicting associations. The current study examined whether the biological sensitivity to context theory (BSCT) or SRH is a more accurate description of associations between early stress and CV reactivity and recovery, and determine which framework best explains sleep outcomes. This is the first article to conceptually link these theories and empirically examine competing hypotheses. METHOD: Participants were 213 adults who participated in the Pittsburgh Cold Study 3. Early environment stress was assessed by four self-report measures consistent with operationalizations of the BSCT. Average heart rate and mean arterial pressure reactivity to the trier social stress test were assessed on two occasions, and sleep parameters were assessed using wrist-worn actigraphy over 7 days. RESULTS: Results generally did not support the SRH; little evidence that high-stress early environments were reliably associated with exaggerated CV reactivity or slower CV recovery, and little evidence that these CV stress responses were consistently associated with poor sleep. However, there was some support for the BSCT; both high-stress and low-stress early environments were associated with exaggerated CV reactivity, the combination of high-stress and high CV reactivity was associated with poor sleep, and the combination of low-stress and high CV reactivity was associated with better sleep. CONCLUSIONS: Associations proposed by the BSCT persist into adulthood and may help explain associations with poor health outcomes. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

The longest year ever: Emotions and time perception interact to predict how frequently individuals engage in COVID-19 avoidance behaviors.

Affective states alter the perception of how quickly time is passing. However, previous studies have not examined the independent and interactive effects of emotion and time perception on behavioral outcomes. The current study sought to better understand the relationships between affect, time perception, and reported engagement in COVID-19 pathogen avoidance behaviors (e.g., social distancing, wearing a mask) over 1 year. The study sample was comprised of American adults (n = 1,000) recruited using Prolific. The majority of participants in the final sample (50.1% male, 46.8% female, 3.1% nonbinary/other) identified as White/Caucasian (78.9%) or Black/African American (11.9%). The average age in the sample was 34.4 years (SD = 11.3). Consistent with study hypotheses, approach-motivated affective states (happiness) were associated with time flying, and avoidance-motivated affective states (nervous, lack of control) were associated with time dragging. Moderation analyses revealed that reports of greater avoidance-motivated affect and time dragging, and reports of greater approach-motivated affect and time flying interacted to predict more frequent engagement in pathogen avoidance behaviors. These results contribute to the existing literature describing the affective and behavioral effects of the COVID-19 pandemic by suggesting both approach- and avoidance-motivated affective states have important implications for engagement in pathogen avoidance behaviors. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

Early Adversity and Changes in Cortisol and Negative Affect in Response to Interpersonal Threats in the Laboratory.

Adverse childhood experiences, such as abuse and neglect, are associated with poor health outcomes. This association may be partially explained by differences in stress physiology. Though most early adverse experiences occur within the context of interpersonal relationships, stress exposures manipulated in the laboratory rarely involve interpersonal interactions beyond the mere presence of others. This study examines whether adverse childhood experiences are associated with differences in affective and cortisol reactivity to two stressors which may more closely resemble the powerlessness and the lack of control characteristic of many adverse childhood experiences: a dominant (vs. submissive) interaction partner and lower (vs. higher) social status. We also manipulate social-evaluative threat as a test of whether these interpersonal stressors are more germane to stress reactivity associated with early adversity than the performance anxiety evoked by more traditional laboratory stressors, such as the Trier Social Stress Test. The results partially support the hypothesis that participants with greater early adversity may be more reactive to interpersonal stressors reminiscent of early adverse experience. Given the interpersonal nature of most adverse childhood experiences, conceptualizing and measuring associations with stress physiology in an interpersonal context may more closely capture the psychological and biological embedding of these early experiences.

Individual differences in motivation and impulsivity link resting frontal alpha asymmetry and motor beta activation.

Previous research has linked neural correlates with motivational traits and measures of impulsivity. However, few previous studies have investigated whether individual differences in motivation and impulsivity moderate the relationship between these disparate neural activity patterns. In a sample of 118 young adults, we used Electroencephalography (EEG) to examine whether behavioral activation and inhibition systems (BIS/BAS) and impulsivity facets (negative urgency, lack of perseverance), moderate the relationship between beta power and resting frontal alpha asymmetry. Regression analyses revealed a novel relationship between lesser beta power and greater left frontal alpha asymmetry (LFA). Moderation analyses suggest this relationship may strengthen as BIS/BAS levels increase, and trait impulsivity levels decrease from the mean. These results are among the first revealing a relationship between two widely investigated neural activity patterns of motivation and provide some indication individual differences moderate this relationship. The limitations of these findings and need for future research are discussed.