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The impact of anticipating a stressful task on sleep inertia when on-call.
Kovac, K, Vincent, GE, Jay, SM, Sprajcer, M, Aisbett, B, Lack, L, Ferguson, SA
Applied ergonomics. 2020;:102942
Abstract
Sleep inertia, the state of reduced alertness upon waking, can negatively impact on-call workers. Anticipation of a stressful task on sleep inertia, while on-call was investigated. Young, healthy males (n = 23) spent an adaptation, control and two counterbalanced on-call nights in the laboratory. When on-call, participants were told they would be woken to a high or low stress task. Participants were not woken during the night, instead were given a 2300-0700 sleep opportunity. Participants slept ∼7.5-h in all conditions. Upon waking, sleep inertia was quantified using the Karolinska Sleepiness Scale and Psychomotor Vigilance and Spatial Configuration Tasks, administered at 15-min intervals. Compared to control, participants felt sleepier post waking when on-call and sleepiest in the low stress compared to the high stress condition (p < .001). Spatial performance was faster when on-call compared to control (p < .001). Findings suggest that anticipating a high-stress task when on-call, does not impact sleep inertia severity.
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The influence of oxytocin on eating behaviours and stress in women with bulimia nervosa and binge eating disorder.
Leslie, M, Leppanen, J, Paloyelis, Y, Treasure, J
Molecular and cellular endocrinology. 2019;:110354
Abstract
The current study aimed to test the influence of oxytocin on palatable food intake, 24-h caloric consumption, and stress in women with bulimia nervosa and binge eating disorder. We recruited 25 women with DSM-5 bulimia nervosa or binge eating disorder, and 27 weight-matched comparison women without history of an eating disorder. We employed a double-blind, placebo-controlled crossover design in which each participant attended the lab for two experimental sessions, receiving a divided dose of 64IU intranasal oxytocin in one session and equivalent volume of placebo nasal spray in the opposite session. The order of administration was pseudo-randomised across participants. We hypothesised that a divided dose of 64IU intranasal oxytocin administration would reduce subjective hunger, the immediate consumption of palatable food, 24-h calorie consumption, and the incidence of binge eating when compared to placebo. We also hypothesised that oxytocin administration would be associated with lower levels of stress and salivary cortisol, and that there would be an interaction with participant group such that oxytocin would reduce eating behaviour and stress to a greater degree in women with bulimia nervosa or binge eating disorder, compared to women without history of an eating disorder. We did not find a significant effect of oxytocin on any of the measurements of eating behaviour, subjective stress, or salivary cortisol. We recommend that future studies test the dose-response effect of oxytocin on eating behaviours and stress in human populations with eating disorders to further clarify the moderating factors for oxytocin's effect on eating.
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Mental and physical health effects of meaningful work and rewarding family responsibilities.
Dich, N, Lund, R, Hansen, ÅM, Rod, NH
PloS one. 2019;(4):e0214916
Abstract
Positive feelings about work and family responsibilities benefit psychological well-being, but their physical health effects remain unexplored. The study assessed whether meaningful work and reward from taking care of family benefitted physical health to the same degree as mental health. Participants were 181 Danes aged 49-51. Participants reported on working conditions, providing care to family, depressive symptoms, and perceived stress. Physical health was operationalized as a physiological dysregulation (e.g., hypertension, high levels of blood sugar and cholesterol, high body mass index). A multidimensional index of physiological dysregulation was created using parameters of cardiovascular, metabolic, and immune function. As expected, meaningful work and sense of reward from taking care of family members were associated with better mental health. However, in women, the very same factors were positively associated with higher physiological dysregulation. We conclude that work and family factors promoting psychological well-being may have physical health trade-offs, particularly in women.
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Body Mass Index Effect on Differing Responses to Psychological Stress in Blood Glucose Dynamics in Patients With Type 1 Diabetes.
Ozaslan, B, Patek, SD, Grabman, JH, Shepard, JA, Dassau, E, Breton, MD, Kudva, YC, Brown, SA, Basu, A, Pinsker, JE, et al
Journal of diabetes science and technology. 2018;(3):657-664
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Abstract
OBJECTIVE The objective was to investigate the relationship of body mass index (BMI) to differing glycemic responses to psychological stress in patients with type 1 diabetes. METHODS Continuous blood glucose monitor (CGM) data were collected for 1 week from a total of 37 patients with BMI ranging from 21.5-39.4 kg/m2 (mean = 28.2 ± 4.9). Patients reported daily stress levels (5-point Likert-type scale, 0 = none, 4 = extreme), physical activity, carbohydrate intake, insulin boluses and basal rates. Daily reported carbohydrates, total insulin bolus, and average blood glucose (BG from CGM) were compared among patients based on their BMI levels on days with different stress levels. In addition, daily averages of a model-based "effectiveness index" (quantifying the combined impact of insulin and carbohydrate on glucose levels) were defined and compared across stress levels to capture meal and insulin independent glycemic changes. RESULTS Analyses showed that patient BMI likely moderated stress related glycemic changes. Linear mixed effect model results were significant for the stress-BMI interaction on both behavioral and behavior-independent glycemic changes. Across participants, under stress, an increase was observed in daily carbohydrate intake and effectiveness index at higher BMI. There was no significant interactive effect on daily insulin or average BG. CONCLUSION Findings suggest that (1) stress has both behavioral and nonbehavioral glycemic effects on T1D patients and (2) the direction and magnitude of these effects are potentially influenced by level of stress and patient BMI. Possibly responsible for these observed effects are T1D/BMI related alterations in endocrine response.
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The Impact of Preterm Infants' Continuous Exposure to Breast Milk Odor on Stress Parameters: A Pilot Study.
Maayan-Metzger, A, Kedem-Friedrich, P, Bransburg Zabary, S, Morag, I, Hemi, R, Kanety, H, Strauss, T
Breastfeeding medicine : the official journal of the Academy of Breastfeeding Medicine. 2018;(3):211-214
Abstract
OBJECTIVE This pilot study aimed to assess the effect of continuous exposure to the odor of own mothers' breast milk (BM) on the stress parameters of preterm infants. MATERIALS AND METHODS Fifteen healthy preterm infants were included. Mean heart rate and salivary cortisol were measured over three consecutive time periods, each lasting 2 days: (1) preintervention (odor free); (2) intervention, during which a cotton pad soaked with 1.5 mL of BM was placed near the infant's head with the aim of providing continuous exposure to its odor; (3) postintervention period (odor free). RESULTS Saliva cortisol levels differed significantly between the three exposure periods (pre-, during, and post-BM odor exposure): 11.38 ± 5.03, 9.51 ± 4.38, and 4.99 ± 3.42 nmol/L, respectively. A repeated univariate analysis of the cortisol measure showed a significant difference (F = 9.34; df = 2.28, p < 0.001). There was no difference in mean heart rate over the three study periods. CONCLUSIONS Preterm infants exposed to BM odor from their own mothers demonstrate a persistent decrease in saliva cortisol levels, which continues after termination of the intervention. This finding may suggest that exposure to own mothers' BM odor has a soothing effect on preterm infants. Further randomized controlled studies are needed to evaluate this simple, safe, and inexpensive intervention.
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Loving-kindness meditation's effects on nitric oxide and perceived well-being: a pilot study in experienced and inexperienced meditators.
Kemper, KJ, Powell, D, Helms, CC, Kim-Shapiro, DB
Explore (New York, N.Y.). 2015;(1):32-9
Abstract
BACKGROUND Meditation is associated with lower blood pressure, but little is known about how loving-kindness meditation affects nitric oxide (NO) metabolism, a key mediator of cardiovascular physiology associated with vasodilation. METHODS We studied seven inexperienced and five experienced healthy meditators at one study visit, after they refrained from eating nitrate-rich foods for at least 12h. Participants completed questionnaires on demographics and meditation practices. We measured nitrite and nitrate and self-reported stress at baseline, after a neutral reading period (prior to meditation), immediately after, and 10 min following a standardized 20-min loving-kindness meditation. RESULTS The 12 subjects had a mean age of 51 years, and two were male. Stress was significantly lower at baseline in the experienced group (15 vs. 49 on 100 point scale, P < .05) as was heart rate (HR) [68.1 ± 0.5 beats per minute (bpm) vs. 73.4 ± 0.7 bpm, P < .05]. Stress levels fell significantly with meditation (52 vs. 11, P < .05), while relaxation increased (55 vs. 89, P < .05) in the inexperienced group. Plasma nitrite levels were not significantly higher, but nitrate levels were more than twice as high (P < .05) for experienced vs. inexperienced meditators before and after loving-kindness meditation. CONCLUSION Loving-kindness meditation is associated with stress reduction in inexperienced meditators. Experienced meditators had higher nitrate levels, trended toward having higher nitrite levels, and had significantly lower stress levels than inexperienced meditators. Nitric oxide metabolism may be involved in the cardiovascular effects of persistent meditation practice. Larger longitudinal studies would be fruitful to better understand the mechanisms involved.
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Dietary sodium influences the effect of mental stress on heart rate variability: a randomized trial in healthy adults.
Allen, AR, Gullixson, LR, Wolhart, SC, Kost, SL, Schroeder, DR, Eisenach, JH
Journal of hypertension. 2014;(2):374-82
Abstract
BACKGROUND Dietary sodium influences intermediate physiological traits in healthy adults independent of changes in blood pressure. The purpose of this study was to test the hypothesis that dietary sodium affects cardiac autonomic modulation during mental stress. METHOD In a prospective, randomized cross-over design separated by 1 month between diets, 70 normotensive healthy young adults (F/M: 44/26, aged 18-38 years) consumed a 5-day low (10 mmol/day), normal (150 mmol), and high (400 mmol) sodium diet followed by heart rate variability (HRV) recordings at rest and during 5-min computerized mental arithmetic. Women were studied in the low hormone phase of the menstrual cycle following each diet. RESULTS Diet did not affect resting blood pressure, but heart rate (HR) (mean ± SE) was 66 ± 1, 64 ± 1, and 63 ± 1 bpm in low, normal, and high sodium conditions, respectively (analysis of variance P = 0.02). For HRV, there was a main effect of sodium on resting SD of normalized RR intervals (SDNN), square root of the mean squared difference of successive normalized RR intervals (RMSSD), high frequency, low-frequency normalized units (LFnu), and high-frequency normalized units (HFnu) (P < 0.01 for all). The response to low sodium was most marked and consistent with sympathetic activation and reduced vagal activity, with increased LFnu and decreased SDNN, RMSSD, and HFnu compared to both normal and high sodium conditions (P ≤0.05 for all). Dietary sodium-by-mental stress interactions were significant for mean NN, RMSSD, high-frequency power, LFnu, and low frequency/high frequency ratio (P < 0.05 for all). The interactions signify that sodium restriction evoked an increase in resting sympathetic activity and reduced vagal activity to the extent that mental stress caused modest additional disruptions in autonomic balance. Conversely, normal and high sodium evoked a reduction in resting sympathetic activity and incremental increase in resting vagal activity, which were disrupted to a greater extent during mental stress compared to low sodium. CONCLUSION We conclude that autonomic control of HRV at rest and during mental stress is altered by dietary sodium in healthy normotensive young adult men and women.
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Chewing gum, occupational stress, work performance and wellbeing. An intervention study.
Smith, AP, Chaplin, K, Wadsworth, E
Appetite. 2012;(3):1083-6
Abstract
An intervention study was carried out to examine the effects of chewing gum on occupational stress and related outcomes. 101 volunteers from Cardiff University completed the study. The results showed that chewing gum reduced stress (both at work and outside work), reduced fatigue, reduced anxiety and depression and led to a more positive mood. Chewing gum was also associated with perceptions of better performance (both at work and outside).
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Impact of sleep, screen time, depression and stress on weight change in the intensive weight loss phase of the LIFE study.
Elder, CR, Gullion, CM, Funk, KL, Debar, LL, Lindberg, NM, Stevens, VJ
International journal of obesity (2005). 2012;(1):86-92
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BACKGROUND The LIFE study is a two-phase randomized clinical trial comparing two approaches to maintaining weight loss following guided weight loss. Phase I provided a nonrandomized intensive 6-month behavioral weight loss intervention to 472 obese (body mass index 30-50) adult participants. Phase II is the randomized weight loss maintenance portion of the study. This paper focuses on Phase I measures of sleep, screen time, depression and stress. METHODS The Phase I intervention consisted of 22 group sessions led over 26 weeks by behavioral counselors. Recommendations included reducing dietary intake by 500 calories per day, adopting the Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) dietary pattern and increasing physical exercise to at least 180 min per week. Measures reported here are sleep time, insomnia, screen time, depression and stress at entry and post-weight loss intervention follow-up. RESULTS The mean weight loss for all participants over the intensive Phase I weight loss intervention was 6.3 kg (s.d. 7.1). Sixty percent (N=285) of participants lost at least 4.5 kg (10 lbs) and were randomized into Phase II. Participants (N=472) attended a mean of 73.1% (s.d. 26.7) of sessions, completed 5.1 (s.d. 1.9) daily food records/week, and reported 195.1 min (s.d. 123.1) of exercise per week. Using logistic regression, sleep time (quadratic trend, P=0.030) and lower stress (P=0.024) at entry predicted success in the weight loss program, and lower stress predicted greater weight loss during Phase I (P=0.021). In addition, weight loss was significantly correlated with declines in stress (P=0.048) and depression (P=0.035). CONCLUSION Results suggest that clinicians and investigators might consider targeting sleep, depression and stress as part of a behavioral weight loss intervention.
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A brief cognitive-behavioral stress management program for secondary school teachers.
Leung, SS, Chiang, VC, Chui, YY, Mak, YW, Wong, DF
Journal of occupational health. 2011;(1):23-35
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OBJECTIVE This study aimed to assess the efficacy of a brief cognitive-behavioral program that was designed to reduce the work-related stress levels of secondary school teachers. METHODS A quasi-experimental design was used to compare the intervention groups with the wait-list control groups. Seventy teachers from the intervention groups and 54 from the control groups completed a set of validated scales at the baseline and 3-4 wk later. The scales included the Depression Anxiety Stress Scale, the Dysfunctional Attitude Scale-Form A, the Health-Promoting Lifestyle Profile II, and the Occupational Stress Inventory Revised Edition. RESULTS After controlling for the baseline measures, the intervention groups had significantly lower role stress, personal strain and overall work-related stress 3-4 wk after the baseline measurements. The intervention groups also had significantly higher stress management behaviors, and less general stress and dysfunctional thoughts than the control groups (all p≤0.05). The levels of dysfunctional thoughts and stress management behaviors significantly predicted general stress after intervention and personal resource deficits. The level of dysfunctional thoughts also predicted the personal strain of work-related stresses (all p<0.05). CONCLUSIONS The brief program reported in this study was efficacious in reducing the work-related stress of secondary teachers. Teachers experienced less work-related stress after the program, and they reported reduced dysfunctional thoughts and enhanced stress management behaviors. This program may be considered as an initial strategy for teachers to develop skills to cope with their work-related stress in the short term and could be incorporated with other strategies to achieve longer-term effects.