There is accumulating evidence that individual differences in stress reactivity contribute to the risk for stress-related disease. However, the assessment of stress reactivity remains challenging, and there is a relative lack of questionnaires reliably assessing this construct. We here present the Perceived Stress Reactivity Scale (PSRS), a 23-item questionnaire with 5 subscales and 1 overall scale, based on an existing German-language instrument. Perceived stress reactivity and related constructs were assessed in N = 2,040 participants from the United Kingdom, the United States, and Germany. The 5-factor structure of the PSRS was found to be similar in the 3 countries. In the U.S. sample the questionnaire was applied using 2 modes of administration (paper-pencil and computerized), and measures were repeated after 4 weeks. Measurement invariance analyses demonstrated full invariance across mode of administration and partial invariance across gender and countries. Scale scores differed between countries and genders, with women scoring higher on most scales. Overall, reliability analysis suggested good stability of PSRS scores over a 4-week period, and validation analysis showed expected associations with related constructs such as self-efficacy, neuroticism, chronic stress, and perceived stress. Perceived stress reactivity was also associated with depressive symptoms and sleep. These associations were particularly strong when individuals scoring high on perceived stress reactivity were exposed to chronic stress. In sum, our findings suggest that the PSRS is a useful and easy-to-administer instrument to assess perceived stress reactivity.

Results suggest that the nature of the relationship between cortisol activation and rumination may be contingent on how rumination is conceptualized and measured.

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The findings from this study are consistent with previous research linking rumination to subjective sleep quality. The results also suggest that post-stressor ruminative thought may predict delayed sleep onset for those with a propensity for rumination.

This study investigated whether trait rumination predicts greater increases in salivary cortisol concentration and delayed recovery in response to a standardized, acute laboratory psychosocial stressor (modified Trier Social Stress Test). It also tested whether trait and state rumination predict reactivation of the cortisol response during later verbal recall of the stressor. Fifty-nine undergraduates (31 females; 28 males) completed the stress protocol and returned 2 weeks later for a surprise interview about the first session, conducted in either a supportive or unsupportive context. Participants completed a measure of trait rumination and reported negative thoughts about the stressor in the 2 weeks between sessions (state rumination). Trait rumination was associated with greater reactivity of salivary cortisol level and delayed recovery from the stressor, F(1,310) = 6.77, p < 0.001. It also predicted greater cortisol reactivity when recalling the stressor, but only for males in the unsupportive interview context, F(2,119) = 7.53, p < 0.001. This effect was heightened for males who also scored high on state rumination, F(2,119) = 7.53, p < 0.001. Rumination was not associated with cortisol responses to the interviews in females. The findings indicate that rumination may play a role in prolonging cortisol stress responses through delayed recovery and reactivation and that rumination disposition and the context of stressor recall are important in understanding the rumination-cortisol response association.

RESULTS suggest that ruminating on stressors may sustain CRP and cortisol responses, whereas distraction may diminish them. Findings have implications for understanding potential risk and protective factors for stress-related activation.

Failure of the hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis to habituate to repeated stress exposure is related with adverse health outcomes, but our knowledge of predictors of non-habituation is limited. Rumination, defined as repetitive and unwanted past-centered negative thinking, is related with exaggerated HPA axis stress responses and poor health outcomes. The aim of this study was to test whether post-stress rumination was related with non-habituation of cortisol to repeated stress exposure. Twenty-seven participants (n=13 females) were exposed to the Trier Social Stress Test (TSST) twice on consecutive afternoons. Post-stress rumination was measured after the first TSST, and HPA axis responses were assessed by measuring salivary cortisol 1 minute before, and 1, 10, 20, 60, and 120 minutes after both TSSTs. Stress exposure induced HPA axis activation on both days, and this activation showed habituation indicated by lower responses to the second TSST (F= 3.7, p=.015). Post-stress rumination after the first TSST was associated with greater cortisol reactivity after the initial stress test (r = 0.45, p < 0.05) and with increased cortisol responses to the second TSST (r = 0.51, p < 0.01), indicating non-habituation, independently of age, sex, depressive symptoms, perceived life stress, and trait rumination. In summary, results showed that rumination after stress predicted non-habituation of HPA axis responses. This finding implicates rumination as one possible mechanism mediating maladaptive stress response patterns, and it might also offer a pathway through which rumination might lead to negative health outcomes.