Perseverative cognition is the repetitive cognitive representation of a stressor, which includes the concepts of worry and rumination. These thoughts delay post-stress cardiovascular recovery, which may lead to an increased risk for cardiovascular disease. This may be due to the negative emotional content of perseverative cognition or because it involves cognitive effort. The aim of this study was to identify the unique influences of negative emotional content and cognitive effort during recovery. Participants (N = 120) were given a demanding task purportedly as a measure of intelligence and then given false negative feedback. Immediately following, participants engaged in one of four recovery instruction conditions: think about task performance, perform a cognitive load task, watch a distracting video, or remain quietly seated. EKG, impedance cardiography, and blood pressure were recorded throughout. Perseverative cognition and cognitive load both resulted in significantly less heart rate recovery compared to the distracting video. Higher test motivation and anxiety were related to more blunted reactivity and delayed recovery of respiratory sinus arrhythmia. Reduced recovery during perseverative cognition and cognitive effort indicate that the cognitive load produced by perseveration is the pernicious component that explains its link to increased risk for cardiovascular disease. Further, the relationship between motivation/anxiety and blunted reactivity and recovery suggest effort may be important in the link between perseverative cognition and cardiovascular disease.

The daughters of women with a history of depression are at heightened risk for a range of mental health problems. The present study investigated emotion regulation, cortisol reactivity to stress, and interpersonal competence as potential indicators of risk in adolescent girls at high versus low risk for depression. Participants were a community sample of 47 girls and their mothers (27 high risk and 20 low risk). Mothers and daughters had been interviewed to assess diagnostic history as part of a previous longitudinal study. In the current study, daughters completed the Trier Social Stress Test for Children (TSST-C) and cortisol samples were collected before and after exposure to this psychosocial stressor. Both mothers and daughters completed self-report questionnaires and daughters were re-assessed using the Depressive Disorders module of the Kiddie Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia. High risk mothers were also interviewed to assess the timing and chronicity of their depressive episodes during their daughters’ lifetime. High and low risk girls had equivalent ratings of self-reported stress following the TSST-C, but different physiological responses. Girls at high risk for depression showed a blunted cortisol response to the TSST-C whereas low risk girls showed a normal cortisol response. High risk status for depression predicted a blunted cortisol response to stress, which predicted difficulties with emotion regulation; difficulties with emotion regulation in turn predicted a greater number of self-reported depressive symptoms. These results suggest that maternal depression may act as a stressor that compromises stress-response system functioning in daughters and produces related difficulties with emotion regulation.

The study of well-being has a long history of investigation from a nomothetic (between-person) perspective that aimed to understand characteristic levels of well-being and individual difference variables that account for stable differences across people. Recent investigations have demonstrated that levels of well-being have the capacity to rapidly fluctuate within people over short intervals and also exhibit slower changes over longer intervals, highlighting the importance of considering the ideographic (within-person) nature of well-being. The aim of this dissertation was to help build on such within-person understanding by demonstrating how theories of well-being may be empirically evaluated using innovative research designs (e.g., intensive repeated measurement designs) and analytic techniques (e.g., multilevel structural equation models [MSEM]) that can fully capture the complexity and dynamic nature of well-being. Three distinct research studies employing intensive repeated measurement designs and an MSEM analytic framework addressed a variety of research questions concerning intra- and inter-individual predictors of well-being. Study one (Chapter 2) simultaneously examined the multilevel moderation and mediation effects of cognitive interference on stress reactivity estimated in a 14-day daily diary design. Study two (Chapter 3) utilized measurement burst data from a large U.S. sample of adults, assessed across multiple time-scales, to examine long-term changes in short-term within-person associations. Random within-person slopes were specified as exogenous predictor variables of individual differences in global levels of psychological well-being. Study three (Chapter 4) used simulation data to examine the conditions where specifying within-person measurement scales as latent variables compared to unit-weighted composite scores optimized detection of within-person effects. This dissertation demonstrates the importance of innovative design and analysis to appropriately model and understand the complex, dynamic associations that operate within and across individuals in predicting their experiences of well-being. / Graduate / 2019-05-14

The daughters of women with a history of depression are at heightened risk for a range of mental health problems. The present study investigated emotion regulation, cortisol reactivity to stress, and interpersonal competence as potential indicators of risk in adolescent girls at high versus low risk for depression. Participants were a community sample of 47 girls and their mothers (27 high risk and 20 low risk). Mothers and daughters had been interviewed to assess diagnostic history as part of a previous longitudinal study. In the current study, daughters completed the Trier Social Stress Test for Children (TSST-C) and cortisol samples were collected before and after exposure to this psychosocial stressor. Both mothers and daughters completed self-report questionnaires and daughters were re-assessed using the Depressive Disorders module of the Kiddie Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia. High risk mothers were also interviewed to assess the timing and chronicity of their depressive episodes during their daughters’ lifetime. High and low risk girls had equivalent ratings of self-reported stress following the TSST-C, but different physiological responses. Girls at high risk for depression showed a blunted cortisol response to the TSST-C whereas low risk girls showed a normal cortisol response. High risk status for depression predicted a blunted cortisol response to stress, which predicted difficulties with emotion regulation; difficulties with emotion regulation in turn predicted a greater number of self-reported depressive symptoms. These results suggest that maternal depression may act as a stressor that compromises stress-response system functioning in daughters and produces related difficulties with emotion regulation.

No description available.

Selective attention to dysphoric stimuli is hypothesized to contribute to the onset and maintenance of emotional disorders. Over the past two decades, research on training and modifying attention as a form of treatment for anxiety and depression, Attentional Bias Modification (ABM) treatment, has increased exponentially. ABM has been employed in research and clinical settings with varying levels of success due to vast heterogeneity among studies. The primary aims of the present study were to examine the effects of different training contingencies, stimulus pairs, and moderators (baseline attentional bias, self-report trait anxiety, and attentional control) on stress reactivity and recovery. Undergraduates (N = 376) were randomly assigned to one of five conditions: four attention conditions each unique in training contingency and stimulus pair, and one control condition. Participants completed self-report measures, a pre-assessment of attention, one of the five conditions, a post-assessment of attention, and a stress induction. Results suggest stimulus types in AMB paradigms have a greater impact on stress responses relative to training contingencies. Participants with high levels of anxiety showed reduced stress recovery after conditions with negative stimuli. Participants with high levels of depression showed less stress reactivity after conditions with emotional stimuli. Attentional control and trait anxiety moderated stress responses. The current findings may be important in advancing ABM treatment by highlighting the significance of including emotional stimuli in ABM paradigms and tailoring treatment with baseline characteristics.

Previous research has established that caregivers of children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) experience greater levels of parenting stress as a result of unique parenting demands and child problem behavior (Davis & Carter, 2008; Estes et al., 2013). Positive self-concepts, specifically parental self-efficacy (PSE), have been implicated as a buffer to stress in a number of contexts (Cieslak, Benight, & Lehman, 2008). While many studies examine parenting stress in relation to ASD, they often use parent self-report rather than objective measures in a laboratory setting. The present study aimed to further explore the role of PSE in the relationship of parental stress and ASD traits through a biological measure of stress, as well as a parent self-report within a controlled laboratory environment. Forty-two mother and child dyads participated in a validated parent-child interaction task designed to elicit a stressful experience. Mother’s heart rate (HR) and heart rate variability (HRV) were monitored as the physiological measure of stress reactivity. Mothers also self-reported on ASD traits, perceived stress-reactivity, and PSE. Results demonstrated a significant positive main effect for ASD traits on HRV reactivity, and an interaction such that the relationship between ASD traits and HRV reactivity (i.e., more emotional flexibility) was stronger in those with lower PSE. Given the low sample size and subsequent low power, results should be viewed with caution. Considerations of the context of HRV as well as implications for treatment targets and studying parental stress are explored. / Master of Science

No description available.

As social beings, we are constantly confronted with psychosocial stressors (e.g., social evaluation, exclusion, achievement and / or performance; Dickerson & Kemeny, 2004; Kirschbaum et al., 1993; Pruessner et al., 2003), which significantly affect the neuroendocrine (HPAA) and autonomic (ANS) function (Chrousos, 2009; Foley & Kirschbaum, 2010; Mohammadi et al., 2019). In a prolonged fashion and in the lack of habituation, chronic stress leads to cortisol hypersecretion, posing a risk for the development of Hypothalamic-PituitaryAdrenal Axis (HPAA) hyporeactivity. At the same time, this represents a vulnerability for the development of somatic and psychiatric conditions (Chrousos, 2009; McEwan, 1998, 2004; Fries, et al., 2005; Heim et al., 2000; Herman et al., 2005). In this regard, response parameters of the HPAA (e.g., cortisol) and the ANS (e.g., Heart rate variability) are paramount in studying the relationship between reactivity and health/illness (Chrousos, 2009; McEwen, 1998). For example, individuals with psychiatric conditions, such as eating disorders (EDs), exhibit hyporesponsiveness of the stress networks, which is associated with dysregulated biomarkers (Het et al., 2020; Monteleone et al., 2010; 2018a, 2018b; Støving, 2019). Among EDs, Anorexia nervosa (AN) records the highest mortality rate (Arcelus et al., 2011; Erskine et al., 2016; Moskowitz & Weiselberg, 2017) and displays a range of ANS and HPAA irregularities, e.g., bradycardia, hypercortisolemia (Gibson et al., 2020; Giovinazzo et al., 2019; Katzmann, 2005; Mazurak et al., 2011; Miller et al., 2013; Sauro et al., 2008). Maintenance of underweight and fear of weight gain despite being underweight (BMI < 17.5 kg/m2) are typical characteristics (DSM-V, APA, 2013). Treatment outcomes are poor (Harbottle et al., 2008; Murray et al., 2019; Watson & Bulik, 2013) and the disease burden for patients and health care substantial (Schmidt et al., 2016). Therefore, innovative and effective treatments are urgently needed. Concerning onset and maintenance, psychosocial stress has been frequently investigated (Caglar-Nazali et al., 2014; Monteleone et al., 2011, 2018b; Wierenga et al., 2018). Patients commonly showed deficient social skills and higher negative affect accompanied by hyporesponsiveness to psychosocial stress (Het et al., 2015, 2020; Monteleone et al., 2011; 2018b; Putigiano et al., 2001; Vocks et al., 2007; Zonevylle-Bender et al., 2015). However, experimental and controlled studies on the neuroendocrine and autonomic reactivity are underrepresented and ambiguous in PAN. Accordingly, the following investigations address this research gap. Objectives and Method: In order to expand ED-specific data and foster understanding at the psychological and physiological level, the stress response to a psychosocial stressor was investigated in a sample of patients with anorexia nervosa (PAN) which was age- and gender-matched to healthy controls (HC), under highly14 standardized conditions. For this purpose, biomarkers such as salivary cortisol (Study 1), heart rate (HR) and heart rate variability (HRV; see Study 2/Table 1) were assessed in a crosssectional study design under two experimental conditions: 1) rest and 2) stress (see Figure 1/Study 1-2). In addition, psychological stress indicators (PASA, VAS, TICS) and symptoms were analyzed (e.g., SCL-K-9, BDI, EDI). Based on previous evidence, elevated cortisol levels and bradycardia at rest were expected in PAN (vs. HC). A stress hyporeactivity in the examined biomarkers was hypothesized in PAN (vs. HC). Additionally, a reduced sympathetic (SNS) and pronounced parasympathetic (PNS) activity and reactivity was assumed in PAN (vs. HC). Furthermore, a regulation of the HPAA functionality regarding total cortisol expression (AUCG) and reactivity with weight recovery in PAN was postulated. Secondarily, BMI (kg/m2) was analyzed in relation to the derived biomarkers and psychological measures of concern.

The present study examined whether cardiovascular habituation to stress is affected by a change in the physical context in which a stressor is encountered. Twenty-five undergraduate students at the University of Central Florida, Palm Bay Campus, were exposed to 4 trials of a stressor consisting of mental arithmetic while under evaluative observation. It was hypothesized that if participants experienced a change in the physical context in which stress was experienced on the final trial, they would demonstrate impaired habituation to stress as indicated by measures of heart rate and blood pressure. Physical context was manipulated by either asking participants to move to another room upon the final exposure to the stressor or to remain in the same room in which they were initially exposed to the stressor for the final exposure. Participants were randomly assigned to one of 2 conditions, the Stable Room Condition (N = 10) or Novel Room condition (N = 15 ). Participants in the Stable Room Condition remained in the same physical context, or same room, throughout all trials and displayed habituation of systolic .blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure, and heart rate. Participants in the Novel Room condition were exposed to the same stressors, but were moved to a different physical context, or new room upon the final trial. The results demonstrated that participants in the novel room condition displayed significantly impaired habituation on measures on systolic blood pressure (p < .001) and diastolic blood pressure (p < .001). However, no significant difference in heart rate was observed between groups. These results indicate that a simple change in the physical context in which stress exposure occurs impairs cardiovascular habituation to stress. Implications and directions for future research are discussed.