The Relationship Between Perceived Control and Hypothalamic–Pituitary–Adrenal Axis Reactivity to the Trier Social Stress Test in Healthy Young Adults

Journal Article · 17 August 2021 · Frontiers in Psychology

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.683914 · OSTI ID:1813633

Liu, Qian; Wu, Jianhui; Zhang, Liang; Sun, Xiaofang; Guan, Qing; Yao, Zhuxi

Psychological factors can modulate the hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal (HPA) axis activity toward stressors. Animal studies demonstrated that uncontrollability was one critical factor associated with HPA axis stress response, but the results in human studies were inconsistent. The current study adopted a standardized laboratory stress induction procedure, the Trier Social Stress Test (the TSST), as the stressor to regulate the objective controllability level, and young adult participants were asked to rate their subjectively perceived control level toward the stressor and measured their cortisol stress responses ( N =54; 19 females and 35 males) to address this concern. Results showed that participants’ perceived control on the TSST was related to the cortisol stress response. In other words, under the stress of a certain objective controllability level, the lower the subjectively perceived control level, the greater the HPA axis response. This finding suggested that, in addition to objective controllability, subjectively perceived control is a psychological factor that regulates activation of the HPA axis in young adults.

• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE Office of Electricity (OE), Advanced Grid Research & Development. Power Systems Engineering Research
• OSTI ID: 1813633
• Journal Information: Frontiers in Psychology, Journal Name: Frontiers in Psychology Vol. 12; ISSN 1664-1078
• Publisher: Frontiers Media SACopyright Statement
• Country of Publication: Switzerland
• Language: English