Mediators of compassionate goal intervention effects on human neuroendocrine responses to the Trier Social Stress Test

Big five traits and interpersonal goals during stressors as predictors of hair cortisol

Background

Hair cortisol concentrations (HCC) provide a biomarker for stress adaptation, which has downstream health consequences. Personality traits (e.g., neuroticism) and social processes (e.g., chronic interpersonal goals) may confer risk or buffer against dysregulated cortisol secretion. However, few studies have examined personality or interpersonal factors predicting hair cortisol, which estimates longer-term secretion and therefore provides a potential biomarker for studying trait-like psychological processes. The present study investigated effects of personality traits and daily interpersonal goals during stressors on HCC.

Method

Participants (N = 90) reported Big Five traits at baseline, recorded interpersonal (self-image and compassionate) goals pursued during their worst psychosocial stressors for 4–5 weeks (1,949 entries), then provided a hair sample to estimate cortisol secretion over the past two months.

Results

As hypothesized, neuroticism predicted higher HCC, beyond other Big Five traits (b = 7.45, SE = 3.36, p = .029). Moreover, this effect was greater for those chronically striving to promote/protect one’s self-image during psychosocial stressors (b = 14.53, SE = 4.72, p = .003), and for those low in conscientiousness (b = 14.84, SE = 4.83, p = .003). Moderate extraversion was associated with higher HCC. Striving to support others (compassionate goals) exerted no direct or interactive effect on HCC, contrary to hypotheses.

Conclusions

Results support the relevance of neuroticism and maladaptive interpersonal strivings to longer-term neuroendocrine responses, suggesting hair cortisol as a potential method for studying links of trait-like psychological and HPA processes.

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Trait neuroticism uniquely predicted higher hair cortisol concentration.

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Interpersonal goals during chronic social stressors amplified effects of neuroticism.

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Trait conscientiousness blunted the effect of neuroticism on hair cortisol.

Rewards of Compassion: Dispositional Compassion Predicts Lower Job Strain and Effort-Reward Imbalance Over a 11-Year Follow-Up

Dispositional compassion has been shown to predict higher well-being and to be associated with lower perceived stress and higher social support. Thus, compassion may be a potential individual factor protecting from job strain. The current study examines (i) whether dispositional compassion predicts job strain and effort-reward imbalance (ERI) or does the predictive relationship run from job strain and ERI to dispositional compassion and (ii) the effect of dispositional compassion on the developmental trajectory of job strain and ERI over a 11-year follow-up. We used data from the Young Finns study (n=723) between 2001 and 2012. The direction of the predictive relationships was analyzed with cross-lagged panel models. Compassion’s effect on the trajectories of job strain, ERI, and their components was examined with multilevel models. First, the cross-lagged panel models demonstrated there was no evidence for the predictive pathways between compassion and job strain or its components. However, the predictive pathways from high dispositional compassion to low ERI and high rewards had better fit to the data than the predictive pathways in the opposite direction. In addition, multilevel models showed that high compassion predicted various job characteristics from early adulthood to middle age (lower job strain and higher job control as well as lower ERI and higher reward). Compassion did not predict job demand/effort. The findings were obtained independently of age, gender, and socioeconomic factors in childhood and adulthood. These findings indicate that compassion may be beneficial in work context. Further, compassion might be useful in the management or prevention of some aspects of strain. Our study provides new insight about the role of compassion in work life.

Compassionate goals predict COVID-19 health behaviors during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic

We predicted that people with compassionate goals to support others and not harm them practiced more COVID-19 health behaviors during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic to protect both themselves and others from infection. Three studies (N = 1,143 American adults) supported these predictions and ruled out several alternative explanations. Compassionate goals unrelated to the health context predicted COVID-19 health behaviors better than the general motivation to be healthy (Studies 2 and 3). In contrast, general health motivation predicted general health behaviors better than did compassionate goals. Compassionate goals and political ideology each explained unique variance in COVID-19 health behaviors (Studies 1-3). Compassionate goals predict unique variance in COVID-19 health behaviors beyond empathic concern, communal orientation, and relational self-construal (Study 3), supporting the unique contribution of compassionate goals to understanding health behaviors. Our results suggest that ecosystem motivation is an important predictor of health behaviors, particularly in the context of a highly contagious disease.

A systematic review of the Trier Social Stress Test methodology: Issues in promoting study comparison and replicable research

Since its development in 1993, the Trier Social Stress Test (TSST) has been used widely as a psychosocial stress paradigm to activate the sympathetic nervous system and hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis (HPAA) stress systems, stimulating physiological functions (e.g. heart rate) and cortisol secretion. Several methodological variations introduced over the years have led the scientific community to question replication between studies. In this systematic review, we used the Preferred Reporting Items of Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis (PRISMA) to synthesize procedure-related data available about the TSST protocol to highlight commonalities and differences across studies. We noted significant discrepancies across studies in how researchers applied the TSST protocol. In particular, we highlight variations in testing procedures (e.g., number of judges, initial number in the arithmetic task, time of the collected saliva samples for cortisol) and discuss possible misinterpretation in comparing findings from studies failing to control for variables or using a modified version from the original protocol. Further, we recommend that researchers use a standardized background questionnaire when using the TSST to identify factors that may influence physiological measurements in tandem with a summary of this review as a protocol guide. More systematic implementation and detailed reporting of TSST methodology will promote study replication, optimize comparison of findings, and foster an informed understanding of factors affecting responses to social stressors in healthy people and those with pathological conditions.

Imagining a positive future reduces cortisol response to awakening and reactivity to acute stress

The positive influence of optimism on health is thought to be due in part to a reduced physiological response to stress, as manifested for instance in activity of hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) systems. Results of previous studies support the notion that dispositional optimism can influence diurnal cortisol secretion as well as cortisol reactivity. The aim of the present study was to examine whether induced optimism can similarly affect HPA activity and thereby potentially have beneficial health effects. We assigned 66 university students to either the Best Possible Self (BPS) or an active control condition, respectively entailing two weeks of daily visualization of a positive future or time management exercises. Before and after the intervention, we assessed diurnal cortisol levels, response to awakening (CAR), and reactivity to the Trier Social Stress Task (TSST), as well as optimism, affect, negative cognitions, perceived stress, and threat appraisal. Effects of the BPS intervention were tested with repeated measures ANOVA (psychological outcomes) and multilevel regression (cortisol outcomes). The BPS intervention was associated with decreases in both the CAR and cortisol responses to acute stress. Compared to controls, BPS participants showed decreased worrying and increased positive affect post-intervention; however, they did not show the expected greater increase in optimism. Within-person decreases in worrying were associated with decreased CARs, whereas both decreased worrying and increased PA were linked to attenuated stress reactivity. Results suggest that the BPS intervention can influence HPA axis reactivity, with effects on well-being variables likely mediating the process. More research is needed to determine longer-term neuroendocrine and health effects of such interventions in at-risk as well as healthy populations.

Compassionate Goals Predict Social Support and PTSD Symptoms Following a University Shooting: A Moderated Mediation Analysis

Introduction: Social support is known to buffer posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms, but the stress-buffering properties of striving to help and support others (compassionate goals) have received less attention. Recent research suggests that compassionate goals shape social support processes and dampen stress responses following social threat, but their relevance to trauma have not been examined. The present study tested whether, in the aftermath of a university mass shooting, compassionate goals concurrently and prospectively predicted lower PTSD symptoms indirectly via higher social support, and whether this mediation would be stronger with higher proximity to the trauma.

Method: Participants (N = 369) completed measures four months post-shooting (Time 1), and a subset (n = 85) repeated outcome variables at eight months (Time 2).

Results: As hypothesized, there was a significant moderated mediation, with trauma proximity moderating the indirect effect of compassionate goals on PTSD symptoms at Time 1 (B = −0.88, SE = 0.28, 95% CI [−1.47, −0.37]) and prospectively at Time 2 (B = −1.12, SE = 0.77, 95% CI [−3.16, −0.03]), although not when controlling for Time 1 symptoms. The indirect effects were greatest for those with higher trauma proximity, suggesting particular relevance for individuals most at risk for trauma-related difficulties.

Discussion: These findings suggest the need for further research into compassionate goals and strategies for fostering them, particularly in the context of social or community traumas.