Social Stress Increases Cortisol and Hampers Attention in Adolescents with Excess Weight

Verdejo-García, Antonio; Moreno-Padilla, María; Garcia-Rios, M. Carmen; López-Torrecillas, Francisca; Delgado-Rico, Elena; Schmidt-RíoValle, Jacqueline; Fernández-Serrano, María José

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0123565

Cited by 37 publications

(16 citation statements)

References 43 publications

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“…At the end of the Day 1 session, the RA reminded participants of the appointment scheduled for the next day, asked them not to smoke, consume any food or drink, chew gum, or engage in physical exercise for 2 h before the start of the Day 2 session. This reminder paralleled protocols described by others (e.g., Kirschbaum et al, 1993 ; Schoofs et al, 2008 ; Verdejo-Garcia et al, 2015 ).…”

Section: Methodssupporting

confidence: 53%

Elevated Cortisol Leaves Working Memory Unaffected in Both Men and Women

Human

Henry

Jacobs

et al. 2018

Front. Hum. Neurosci.

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Activation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis (as might occur, for example, when the organism encounters a threat to allostatic balance) leads to the release of cortisol into the bloodstream and, ultimately, to altered neural functioning in particular brain regions (e.g., the prefrontal cortex (PFC)). Although previous studies suggest that exposure to acute psychosocial stress (and hence, presumably, elevation of circulating cortisol levels) enhances male performance on PFC-based working memory (WM) tasks, few studies have adequately investigated female performance on WM tasks under conditions of elevated cortisol. Hence, we compared associations between elevated (relative to baseline) levels of circulating cortisol and n-back performance in a South African sample (38 women in the late luteal phase of their menstrual cycle, 38 men). On Day 1, participants completed practice n-back tasks. On Day 2, some completed the Trier Social Stress Test (TSST), whereas others experienced a relaxation period, before completing 1-back and 3-back tasks. We measured self-reported anxiety and salivary cortisol at baseline, post-manipulation and end of session. We reconstituted group assignment so that all women with elevated cortisol were in one group (EC-Women; n = 17), all men with elevated cortisol were in another (EC-Men; n = 19), all women without elevated cortisol were in a third (NoEC-Women; n = 21), and all men without elevated cortisol were in a fourth (NoEC-Men; n = 19) group. Analyses suggested this reconstitution was effective: in EC, but not NoEC, groups cortisol levels rose significantly from baseline to post-manipulation. Analyses of n-back data detected significant relations to task load (i.e., better performance on 1-back than on 3-back tasks), but no significant relations to sex, performance accuracy/speed, or cortisol variation. The data patterns are inconsistent with reports describing sex differences in effects of stress on WM performance. We speculate that cross-study methodological differences account for these inconsistencies, and, particularly, that between-study variation in the magnitude of baseline cortisol levels might affect outcomes. For instance, diurnal cortisol rhythms of South African samples might have flatter curves, and lower baseline values, than predominantly Caucasian samples from the United States and western Europe due to greater prenatal and lifetime stress, more socioeconomic disadvantage and faster ancestral life history (LH) strategies. We describe ways to disconfirm this hypothesis, and urge further cross-national research exploring these possibilities.

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Section: Methodssupporting

confidence: 53%

Elevated Cortisol Leaves Working Memory Unaffected in Both Men and Women

Human

Henry

Jacobs

et al. 2018

Front. Hum. Neurosci.

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“…Individuals who reported depressive or binge eating symptoms were excluded. Eligible volunteers underwent MRI scanning as a part of a larger study (described by Navas et al, 2016; Verdejo-Garcia et al, 2015), examining cognition and decision-making in obesity. In brief, participants attended an initial study session, where they provided informed consent or assent and completed neuropsychological tasks and questionnaires, before attending a second scanning session.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Combined effects of age and BMI are related to altered cortical thickness in adolescence and adulthood

Westwater

Vilar-López

Ziauddeen

et al. 2019

Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience

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“…Given the possible confounding effects of body mass index (BMI), race, sex and age (Chapman & Mullis, 2000;Hampel & Petermann, 2006;Roemmich et al, 2007;Valiente, Eisenberg, Fabes, Spinrad, & Sulik, 2015;Verdejo-Garcia et al, 2015) on stress coping and stress reactivity, these variables were included as covariates within the statistical models. Anthropometric measures of height and weight were measured in the laboratory by trained study staff members.…”

Section: Covariatesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Stress coping strategies and stress reactivity in adolescents with overweight/obesity

et al. 2020

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This study explored the associations between the frequency and effectiveness of habitual stress coping strategies on physiological and psychological stress responses to an acute laboratory stressor in adolescents with overweight/obesity (51 adolescents; 47% female; ages 14-19 years). Coping strategies were assessed using the Schoolager's Coping Strategies Inventory. Acute physiological stress responses were measured as salivary cortisol and α-amylase output during the Trier Social Stress Test and during a control condition. Acute psychological stress was measured using a Likert-type scale, and systolic blood pressure (SBP) and heart rate were measured at baseline. Results revealed that higher coping effectiveness was associated with lower log-based α-amylase during the stress (β ¼ À 0.025, p ¼ 0.018) and control (β ¼ À 0.030, p ¼ 0.005) conditions, but not with cortisol across either condition (all ps > 0.05). SBP moderated the association between coping effectiveness and α-amylase during the stress condition, with higher coping effectiveness associated with lower α-amylase only among individuals with lower SBP (β ¼ 0.002, p ¼ 0.027). Coping frequency was not associated with cortisol responses, neither was habitual stress coping strategies associated with psychological stress (all ps > 0.05). These findings provide preliminary evidence that effective use of stress coping strategies may provide a dampening effect on sympathetic activity in an at-risk adolescent population.

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Social Stress Increases Cortisol and Hampers Attention in Adolescents with Excess Weight

Cited by 37 publications

References 43 publications

Elevated Cortisol Leaves Working Memory Unaffected in Both Men and Women

Elevated Cortisol Leaves Working Memory Unaffected in Both Men and Women

Combined effects of age and BMI are related to altered cortical thickness in adolescence and adulthood

Stress coping strategies and stress reactivity in adolescents with overweight/obesity

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