Laboratory stress tests typically administer stress acutely, ranging from 3 to 15 minutes. However, everyday stressors usually last longer than ten minutes (e.g., examination stressors, work stressors, and social stressors. Moreover, in some studies, it may be relevant to induce stress for a longer period to affect certain psychological or physiological parameters. To this end, we developed a novel stress test that intends to induce psychosocial stress for 90 minutes. The Leuven Prolonged Acute Stress Test (L-PAST) combines physical (hand immersion in cold water), cognitive (mental arithmetic), and psychosocial (social evaluation and feelings of failure) stress elements of two well-known laboratory stress tests, the Maastricht Acute Stress Test (MAST) and the Montreal Imaging Stress Test (MIST). Fifty healthy women were subjected to both the L-PAST and a sham (control) test in a randomized and counterbalanced manner. The stress response was determined by salivary cortisol measurements and assessment of subjective stress ratings at regular time points during the time preceding the stress period (5 min), the stress period (90 min), and the recovery period (35 min). Cognitive reactivity to failure and subjective pain levels were also assessed at various time points. The childhood trauma questionnaire (CTQ) and the perceived stress scale (PSS) were administered prior to the testing phase. As expected, linear mixed models revealed that the stress response was significantly higher during the L-PAST as indicated by a significant time point by condition interaction effect for both the cortisol response (=12.21, < 0.0001, ηp=0.11) and the subjective stress response (F=13.98, < 0.0001, ηp = 0.12). Moreover, there was a significant time point by condition interaction effect for cognitive reactivity to failure (F = 7.97, < 0.0001, ηp = 0.07) and subjective pain (F = 38.52, < 0.0001, ηp = 0.27), indicating that the levels were higher during the L-PAST at most stress induction time points. Lastly, higher CTQ scores were associated with higher subjective pain levels during the L-PAST (F=6.05, = 0.02). Collectively, our results confirm the efficacy of the L-PAST in inducing a prolonged subjective as well as cortisol stress response.

中文翻译：

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鲁汶延长急性应激试验 (L-PAST)：一种诱导主观和糖皮质激素应激反应至少九十分钟的新颖范例

实验室压力测试通常会急剧地施加压力，时间范围为 3 到 15 分钟。然而，日常压力源通常持续时间超过十分钟（例如，考试压力源、工作压力源、社交压力源）。此外，在一些研究中，可能与诱导较长时间的压力以影响某些心理或生理参数有关。最后，我们开发了一种新颖的压力测试，旨在引发 90 分钟的心理社会压力，鲁汶长期急性压力测试 (L-PAST) 结合了身体（将手浸入冷水中）、认知（心算）和心理社会（社会评估）。两种著名实验室压力测试的压力要素，即马斯特里赫特急性压力测试 (MAST) 和蒙特利尔成像压力测试 (MIST)。 50 名健康女性接受了 L-PAST 和假手术（对照）。 ）以随机和平衡的方式进行测试，通过唾液皮质醇测量和压力期之前（5 分钟）、压力期（90 分钟）和压力期之前的定期时间点的主观压力评级评估来确定。恢复期（35 分钟）。还在不同时间点评估了对失败的认知反应和主观疼痛水平。在测试阶段之前进行了儿童创伤问卷（CTQ）和感知压力量表（PSS）。正如预期的那样，线性混合模型显示，L-PAST 期间的压力反应显着较高，如皮质醇反应 (=12.21，< 0.0001，ηp=0.11) 和主观压力的条件相互作用效应的显着时间点所示。响应（F=13.98，< 0.0001，ηp = 0.12）。此外，对于失败的认知反应（F = 7.97，< 0.0001，ηp = 0.07）和主观疼痛（F = 38.52，< 0.0001，ηp = 0.27），条件交互作用存在一个显着的时间点，表明这些水平在 L-PAST 期间，大多数应力诱导时间点都较高。最后，较高的 CTQ 评分与 L-PAST 期间较高的主观疼痛水平相关（F=6.05，= 0.02）。总的来说，我们的结果证实了 L-PAST 在诱导长期主观和皮质醇应激反应方面的功效。