Ambulatory stress psychophysiology: the study of “compensatory and defensive counterforces” and conflict in a natural setting.

Abstract

Thirty years ago, Donald Oken raised basic questions about psychophysiological research strategies for the study of the "psychological stress response" in the laboratory. Is it possible to simulate in the laboratory the situations one normally encounters? Do laboratory stimuli provoke affective arousal? Are different classes of stress stimuli associated with specific physiological response patterns? How do one's characteristic "defenses" and coping styles modulate one's responses? This paper describes a novel ambulatory research strategy in which the laboratory is moved into the natural setting. The advantages of this strategy are exemplified in studies of paramedics in whom 24-hour recordings were made of ambulatory blood pressure and heart rate. The ambulatory physiological data were then related to information about specific work location and subjective ratings of stress made in a diary at the time of each reading, objective assessments of the different stressful situations encountered, and the role of individual differences in anger expression and defensiveness in modulating these relationships. The findings illustrate the ability of real-life stressors to bring out relationships not typically obtained in the laboratory. Moreover, the natural setting permits individuals to respond to behavioral challenges using their preferred mode of coping with stress, as opposed to the constraints imposed on them in the laboratory. This research strategy has also helped uncover the significance of conflict about the expression of hostility, rather than hostility per se, as a key factor in the "stress response."

Defensiveness and Individual Response Stereotypy in Asthma

“…The cutoff score for both the MC and TMAS was ≥18 to define high defensiveness and trait anxiety, respectively. Although techniques for measuring defensiveness have included median, tercile, and quartile splits, the cutoff scores for the MC in previous studies have typically ranged from 17 to 19 (13,15,18,21,22,25,26).…”

“…A large body of research on healthy participants suggests that defensiveness is related to elevated stress-related cardiovascular reactivity and some measures of cardiac risk. There is evidence that defensive individuals react to stress with increased heart rate (13)(14)(15)(16)(17), diastolic blood pressure (15,16), systolic blood pressure (16)(17)(18), electrodermal activity (13,19,20), and muscle tension (13). Defensiveness also has been associated with elevated salivary cortisol (21) and cholesterol levels (22) and lower RSA (23).…”

Striking a chord: Moods, blood pressure, and heart rate in everyday life

“…Positive mood did moderate the effects of negative mood. Emotional suppression would be likely to obscure the relation between mood intensity and BP or HR (Shapiro, Jamner, & Goldstein, 1993). However, women in general may be more likely than men to acknowledge or focus on certain kinds of emotional states (Barrett, Robin, Pietromonaco, & Eyssell, 1998).…”

Evaluating Psychosocial Variables and Their Link to Hypertension Using Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction

“…This view has been shared by many others. 73,99,[118][119][120][121][122][123] Second is the use of non-validated anger questionnaires and reliable blood pressure measurement techniques. The use of unreliable tools raises the question of reliability of results.…”