Subjective versus objective stress in noncritically ill hospitalized and outpatient adult men

Abstract

A cross-sectional study of 120 subjects was performed with the purpose of evaluating stress hormones and emotional stress (anxiety) in outpatient and hospitalized subjects. The aims were to determine the degree of objective stress, as well as to correlate this finding with subjective findings, estimated using Beck´s Anxiety Inventory.. METHOD: Three populations were investigated, namely outpatient clinical cases (Group I, n = 30), hospitalized clinical individuals (Group II, n = 30), and hospitalized surgical candidates (Group III, n = 30). Controls (Group IV, n = 30) were healthy volunteers who were health-care professionals and students. To avoid hormone interactions, only men were enrolled in all groups. All hospitalized subjects were tested on admission and before therapeutic interventions. Fasting epinephrine, norepinephrine, and cortisol were measured in the morning, and Beck´s Anxiety Inventory was adminstered by a trained psychologist. RESULTS:The 3 patient groups displayed higher anxiety levels than the controls. Hormone concentrations did not present remarkable changes and did not correlate with subjective stress (anxiety).CONCLUSIONS: 1) Subjective disorders (as determined with Beck´s Anxiety Inventory ) were a common finding in both outpatient and hospitalized populations, without differences between the various groups; 2) Objective stress (as determined by elevated hormone levels) was more difficult to confirm-findings rarely exceeded the reference range; 3) Correlation between the two variables could not be demonstrated; 4) Further studies are necessary to define stress quantification and interpretation in patient populations, especially in relationship with nutritional diagnosis and dietetic prescription.

Physiological changes during first encounters and their role in determining the perceived interaction quality

“…This apparent contradiction suggests that in this experiment, the sympathetic stress response (which is initially high, as indicated by the phasic peak during the first 5 minutes) is not further related to the participant's perception of the social interaction. This fits with previous research showing that objective measures of stress have low or no correlation with subjective perceptions of stress (Dieleman et al, 2010;Dieleman et al, 2015;Evans et al, 2013;Karkow et al, 2004;Oldehinkel et al, 2011). The finding that tonic EDA drops significantly more in face-to-face interactions may be additionally relevant for understanding telephobia (i.e.…”

Intranasal Oxytocin Administration Reduces Bystanders’ Acceptance of Online Celebrity Bashing

“…Second, we have only collected objective measures of stress, but we have not asked participants about their subjectively perceived stress. Objective and subjective stress levels differ and typically do not correlate (Dieleman et al 2010;Dieleman et al 2015;Evans et al 2013;Karkow et al 2004;Oldehinkel et al 2011). Therefore, we cannot determine if subjective perception of the participants' arousal was a mediating factor between OT administration and acceptance of celebrity bashing.…”