Distraction coping predicts better cortisol recovery after acute psychosocial stress

Publication date: Available online 22 July 2017
Source:Biological Psychology
Author(s): Johanna Janson, Nicolas Rohleder
The aim of this study was to explore whether different manifestations of state coping predict cortisol response and recovery in an acute stress situation. Fifty-nine healthy adults (59.3% female) were exposed to the Trier Social Stress Test (TSST), and salivary cortisol was measured repeatedly before and after stress. Hierarchical linear modeling was used to test for relationships between factor-analytically derived measures of state coping and cortisol response and recovery. Independent of sex, age, BMI, chronic stress and depression, denial coping was related with higher peak levels of cortisol (β=0.0798, SE=0.0381, p=0.041) while distraction coping predicted steeper recovery after TSST (linear effect: β=−0.0430, SE=0.0184, p=0.023) and less pronounced curvature (quadratic effect: β=0.0043, SE=0.0017, p=0.016). Our results demonstrate the stress-buffering effect of distraction coping on hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis activity in situations without sufficient control.



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