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Exhaustion-related changes in cardiovascular and cortisol reactivity to acute psychosocial stress.

Jönsson, Peter LU ; Österberg, Kai LU ; Wallergård, Mattias LU ; Hansen, Åse Marie ; Garde, Anne Helene ; Johansson, Gerd LU and Karlson, Björn LU (2015) In Physiology & Behavior 151(Jul 22). p.327-337
Abstract
Prior findings indicate that individuals scoring high on vital exhaustion show a dysfunctional stress response (DSR), that is, reduced cortisol reactivity and habituation to psychosocial stressors. The main aim of the present study was to examine whether a DSR may be a vulnerability factor in exhaustion disorder (ED). We examined whether a DSR is present during the early stages of ED, and still is present after recovery. Three groups were studied: 1. Former ED patients (n = 14); 2. persons who during the past 6 month had experienced stress at work and had a Shirom-Melamed Burnout Questionnaire (SMBQ) score over 3.75, considered to indicate a pre-stage of ED (n = 17); 3. persons who had not experienced stress at work during the past 6... (More)
Prior findings indicate that individuals scoring high on vital exhaustion show a dysfunctional stress response (DSR), that is, reduced cortisol reactivity and habituation to psychosocial stressors. The main aim of the present study was to examine whether a DSR may be a vulnerability factor in exhaustion disorder (ED). We examined whether a DSR is present during the early stages of ED, and still is present after recovery. Three groups were studied: 1. Former ED patients (n = 14); 2. persons who during the past 6 month had experienced stress at work and had a Shirom-Melamed Burnout Questionnaire (SMBQ) score over 3.75, considered to indicate a pre-stage of ED (n = 17); 3. persons who had not experienced stress at work during the past 6 months and had a SMBQ score below 2.75 (n = 20). The participants were exposed twice to a virtual version of the Trier Social Stress Test (V-TSST), during which salivary cortisol samples were collected. In addition, high frequency heart rate variability (HF-HRV), heart rate (HR), t-wave amplitude (TWA), and alpha-amylase were assessed to examine stress reactivity and habituation in the autonomic nervous system (ANS).



The initial analyses showed dear hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis and sympathetic nervous system (SNS) activations in both V-TSST sessions, together with habituation of cortisol and heart rate in the second session, but without any significant group differences. However, the former ED patients showed considerable variation in self-reported signs of exhaustion (SMBQ). This led us to assign former ED patients with lower ratings into the low SMBQ group (LOWS) and those with higher ratings to the high SMBQ group (HIGHS). When repeating the analyses a different picture emerged; the HIGHS showed a lower cortisol response to the V-TSST than did the LOWS. Both groups' cortisol response habituated to the second V-TSST session. The ANS responses did not differ between the two groups. Thus, persons in a pre-stage of ED and unrecovered former ED patients showed signs of DSR, in contrast to healthy controls and recovered former ED patients. The results may be interpreted as indicating that DSR in the HPA axis is present early on in the stress process, but subsides after successful recovery. (C) 2015 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/). (Less)
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author
; ; ; ; ; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
Habituation, Burnout, Exchaustion, Psychosocial stress, Virtual reality, SAM system, HPA axis, TSST
in
Physiology & Behavior
volume
151
issue
Jul 22
pages
327 - 337
publisher
Elsevier
external identifiers
  • pmid:26210042
  • wos:000362602600042
  • scopus:84939454313
  • pmid:26210042
ISSN
1873-507X
DOI
10.1016/j.physbeh.2015.07.020
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
a883f7be-c232-488f-81d2-6c06784e061f (old id 7720798)
date added to LUP
2016-04-01 09:55:03
date last changed
2022-03-04 06:14:53
@article{a883f7be-c232-488f-81d2-6c06784e061f,
  abstract     = {{Prior findings indicate that individuals scoring high on vital exhaustion show a dysfunctional stress response (DSR), that is, reduced cortisol reactivity and habituation to psychosocial stressors. The main aim of the present study was to examine whether a DSR may be a vulnerability factor in exhaustion disorder (ED). We examined whether a DSR is present during the early stages of ED, and still is present after recovery. Three groups were studied: 1. Former ED patients (n = 14); 2. persons who during the past 6 month had experienced stress at work and had a Shirom-Melamed Burnout Questionnaire (SMBQ) score over 3.75, considered to indicate a pre-stage of ED (n = 17); 3. persons who had not experienced stress at work during the past 6 months and had a SMBQ score below 2.75 (n = 20). The participants were exposed twice to a virtual version of the Trier Social Stress Test (V-TSST), during which salivary cortisol samples were collected. In addition, high frequency heart rate variability (HF-HRV), heart rate (HR), t-wave amplitude (TWA), and alpha-amylase were assessed to examine stress reactivity and habituation in the autonomic nervous system (ANS).<br/><br>
<br/><br>
The initial analyses showed dear hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis and sympathetic nervous system (SNS) activations in both V-TSST sessions, together with habituation of cortisol and heart rate in the second session, but without any significant group differences. However, the former ED patients showed considerable variation in self-reported signs of exhaustion (SMBQ). This led us to assign former ED patients with lower ratings into the low SMBQ group (LOWS) and those with higher ratings to the high SMBQ group (HIGHS). When repeating the analyses a different picture emerged; the HIGHS showed a lower cortisol response to the V-TSST than did the LOWS. Both groups' cortisol response habituated to the second V-TSST session. The ANS responses did not differ between the two groups. Thus, persons in a pre-stage of ED and unrecovered former ED patients showed signs of DSR, in contrast to healthy controls and recovered former ED patients. The results may be interpreted as indicating that DSR in the HPA axis is present early on in the stress process, but subsides after successful recovery. (C) 2015 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).}},
  author       = {{Jönsson, Peter and Österberg, Kai and Wallergård, Mattias and Hansen, Åse Marie and Garde, Anne Helene and Johansson, Gerd and Karlson, Björn}},
  issn         = {{1873-507X}},
  keywords     = {{Habituation; Burnout; Exchaustion; Psychosocial stress; Virtual reality; SAM system; HPA axis; TSST}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{Jul 22}},
  pages        = {{327--337}},
  publisher    = {{Elsevier}},
  series       = {{Physiology & Behavior}},
  title        = {{Exhaustion-related changes in cardiovascular and cortisol reactivity to acute psychosocial stress.}},
  url          = {{https://lup.lub.lu.se/search/files/8116021/7936132.pdf}},
  doi          = {{10.1016/j.physbeh.2015.07.020}},
  volume       = {{151}},
  year         = {{2015}},
}