Better executive function under stress mitigates the effects of recent life stress exposure on health in young adults

Abstract

Executive function is a neuropsychological construct that enables controlled cognitive processing, which has been hypothesized to enhance individuals’ resilience to stress. However, little empirical work has directly examined how executive function under different conditions mitigates the negative effects of stress exposure on health. To address this issue, we recruited 110 healthy young adults and assessed their recent life stress exposure, executive function in either a stressful or non-stressful context, and current health complaints. Based on existing research, we hypothesized that individuals exhibiting better executive function following a laboratory-based stressor (but not a control task) would demonstrate weaker associations between recent stress exposure and health because they perceived recent life stressors as being less severe. Consistent with this hypothesis, better executive function during acute stress, but not in the absence of stress, was associated with an attenuated link between participants’ recent life stress exposure and their current health complaints. Moreover, this attenuating effect was mediated by lesser perceptions of stressor severity. Based on these data, we conclude that better executive function under stress is associated with fewer health complaints and that these effects may occur by reducing individuals’ perceptions of stressor severity. The data thus suggest the possibility of reducing stress-related health problems by enhancing executive function.

Childhood stress and birth timing among African American women: Cortisol as biological mediator

“…While the LEDS requires extensive staff training, 1–2 hours per subject for administration, and 1–2 hours to produce expert panel contextual ratings, including loss, danger, humiliation, entrapment, and role conflict ratings (Brown et al, 1987; Brown et al, 1995), the STRAIN uses an online system with extensive intelligent logic to produce comprehensive estimates of life stress and automated ratings in 18 – 30 minutes. In prior work, STRAIN indices correlated positively with negative affect, correlated negatively with forgiveness, and were linked to greater fatigue (in agreement with prediction per childhood neglect [Childhood Trauma Questionnaire]), greater metabolic risk (in agreement with prediction per pessimism [Life Orientation Test-Revised]), more mental health symptoms, and more physical health symptoms (Bower et al, 2014; Dooley et al, 2017; Kurtzman et al, 2012; Shields et al, 2017; Toussaint et al, 2016). …”

Greater lifetime stress exposure predicts blunted cortisol but heightened DHEA responses to acute stress

“…In addition, particular life events may be more important for the onset of depression than others (Slavich, Thornton, Torres, Monroe, & Gotlib, 2009). Similarly, greater recent life stress has been associated with worse cognitive function (Shields, Moons, & Slavich, 2017), and chronic stress predicts accelerated biological aging (Epel et al, 2004).…”

Measuring lifetime stress exposure and protective factors in life course research on racial inequality and birth outcomes

“…Based on this information, the system produces 115 summary scores and life charts that describe a person’s exposure to different types of stressors that are known to affect health. The STRAIN has excellent test-retest reliability ( rs = .904–.919; Slavich & Shields, 2017) and predictive validity in relation to several different health outcomes, including metabolic function (Kurtzman et al, 2012), fatigue and depression (Bower, Crosswell, & Slavich, 2014; Dooley, Slavich, Moreno, & Bower, in press), and mental and physical health (Shields, Moons, & Slavich, 2017; Toussaint, Shields, Dorn, & Slavich, 2016). As the STRAIN produces summary scores across 12 different life domains (e.g.…”