Abstract

Background

Research pairing ecological momentary assessment (EMA) methodology and ambulatory cortisol during daily life is still rare, as is careful testing of the within-person associations between stress, affect, and cortisol. Using a circumplex approach, we considered both valence and arousal components of affect.

Purpose

To examine the within-person covariation of momentary cortisol with momentary perceived stress, affective valence, and affective arousal in everyday life.

Methods

115 working adults (M_age = 41.2; 76% women; 76% white) completed six EMA surveys per day over 3 days. Each assessment included reports of perceived stress and affect (used to construct indicators of affective valence and arousal), followed by a saliva sample (from which cortisol was assessed). Multi-level models were used to examine the momentary associations between perceived stress, affective valence, affective arousal, and cortisol.

Results

Moments characterized by higher perceived stress were associated with higher cortisol (p = .036). Affective valence covaried with cortisol (p = .003) such that more positive valence was associated with lower cortisol and more negative valence with higher cortisol. Momentary affective arousal was not related to cortisol (p = .131). When all predictors were tested in the same model, only valence remained a significant predictor of cortisol (p = .047).

Conclusion

Momentary perceived stress and affective valence, but not affective arousal, were associated with naturalistic cortisol. Cortisol was more robustly associated with affective valence than perceived stress or affective arousal. These findings extend our understanding of how moments of stress and particular characteristics of affective states (i.e., valence but not arousal) may “get under the skin” in daily life.

中文翻译：

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工作成年人样本中感知压力、情感效价和情感唤醒与瞬时皮质醇的个体内关联

摘要

背景

在日常生活中将生态瞬时评估 (EMA) 方法和动态皮质醇配对的研究仍然很少见，对压力、情感和皮质醇之间的人体内关联进行仔细测试也是如此。使用循环方法，我们考虑了情感的效价和唤醒成分。

目的

研究日常生活中瞬时皮质醇与瞬时感知压力、情感效价和情感唤醒的人体内协变。

方法

115 名在职成年人（M_年龄= 41.2；76% 女性；76% 白人）在 3 天内每天完成 6 次 EMA 调查。每个评估都包括感知压力和情感的报告（用于构建情感效价和唤醒指标），然后是唾液样本（从中评估皮质醇）。多层次模型用于检查感知压力、情感效价、情感唤醒和皮质醇之间的瞬时关联。

结果

以较高感知压力为特征的时刻与较高的皮质醇相关（p = .036）。情感效价与皮质醇相关（p = .003），因此更多的正效价与较低的皮质醇相关，而更多的负效价与较高的皮质醇相关。瞬间情感唤醒与皮质醇无关（p = .131）。当在同一模型中测试所有预测因子时，只有化合价仍然是皮质醇的重要预测因子 ( p = .047)。

结论

瞬时感知压力和情感效价，但与情感唤醒无关，与自然皮质醇有关。与感知压力或情感唤醒相比，皮质醇与情感效价的关系更为密切。这些发现扩展了我们对压力时刻和情感状态的特定特征（即效价但不是唤醒）如何在日常生活中“深入浅出”的理解。