This study addresses psychophysiological assessment of poststress recovery and presents a definition of poststress recovery and methods of measurement. Recent studies that have included psychophysiological assessment of poststress recovery are reviewed as well as the psychological and physiological mechanisms underlying poststress recovery. The importance of "chronicity" of stressor effects is emphasized. The final section addresses the clinical utility of this measure. The main thesis of this article is that poststress recovery reflects clinically important psychological and physiological mechanisms. This measure can be used to identify persons at risk for behavioral and biological disorders and assist in the design and evaluation of intervention programs.This document is copyrighted by the American Psychological Association or one of its allied publishers.This article is intended solely for the personal use of the individual user and is not to be disseminated broadly.
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