ABSTRACT

Background: Feeling alive and invigorated, or vitality, is examined within the framework of a stress paradigm. The current study investigated whether endocrine and cardiovascular responses to acute psychological stress predict declines in vitality.

Methods: A sample of 90 undergraduate students completed an in-lab stressor. We measured anxiety, state vitality, cortisol levels, heart rate, and blood pressure before the task, and measured changes in state vitality, cortisol, heart rate, and blood pressure in response to the stressor. We investigated whether pre-task anxiety predicted changes in state vitality, and whether such changes were explained by physiological responses.

Results: Results indicate that cognitive and somatic anxiety preceding a stressor predict changes in vitality, which is mediated by the magnitude of diastolic (95% CI [0.017, 0.517]; [0.006, 0.454]) and systolic (95% CI [0.038, 0.705]) blood pressure responses to the task. Cortisol reactivity was associated with somatic anxiety (F(6, 83) = 3.34, p < .01, β = 0.401) but was not related to changes in vitality.

Conclusions: Together, these results contribute to the understanding of how physiological reactivity to a stressor can deplete vitality.

摘要

背景：在压力范式的框架内检查充满活力和精力充沛或充满活力的感觉。目前的研究调查了内分泌和心血管对急性心理压力的反应是否预示着活力的下降。

方法： 90 名本科生样本完成了实验室压力源。我们在任务前测量了焦虑、状态活力、皮质醇水平、心率和血压，并测量了状态活力、皮质醇、心率和血压对压力源的反应变化。我们调查了任务前焦虑是否可以预测状态活力的变化，以及这种变化是否可以用生理反应来解释。

结果：结果表明，压力源之前的认知和躯体焦虑可预测活力的变化，活力的变化由舒张压（95% CI [0.017, 0.517]; [0.006, 0.454]）和收缩压（95% CI [0.038, 0.038, 0.705]) 血压对任务的反应。皮质醇反应性与躯体焦虑相关 ( F (6, 83) = 3.34, p  < .01, β  = 0.401)，但与活力变化无关。

结论：总的来说，这些结果有助于理解对压力源的生理反应如何消耗活力。