The Trier Social Stress Test and the Trier Social Stress Test for Groups: Qualitative Investigations

Overview

Journal PLoS One

Specialties General Medicine
Science

Date 2018 Apr 12

PMID 29641572

Citations 12

Authors

Olivier Vors

Tanguy Marqueste

Nicolas Mascret

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

The Trier Social Stress Test (TSST) and its version for groups (TSST-G) are the gold standard for inducing acute psychosocial stress in human experimental settings and have been used in numerous studies since the early 1990s. The TSST and the TSST-G lead to effects on different physiological and psychological markers, such as salivary cortisol, anxiety, and emotional states. These effects were assessed with quantitative methods comparing pre-test and post-test measures with statistical analyses. But to date, no qualitative analyses have been conducted to examine the meaningful experience of participants during the TSST and the TSST-G. This study is the first to conduct qualitative investigations to further clarify the stressful experience of participants confronted with these procedures. Preliminary results showed as expected that the TSST and the TSST-G effectively induced psychosocial stress, with cortisol levels, cognitive anxiety, somatic anxiety, and arousal increases, and with pleasure and dominance decreases. At the qualitative level, the results evidenced that the two theoretically stressful components of the TSST and the TSST-G, namely social-evaluative threat and uncontrollability, were experienced as stress-inducing by the participants. Two case studies confirmed these findings. But the results also showed on one hand that psychosocial stress is a dynamic phenomenon, with important fluctuations throughout the tasks (mainly for the TSST-G); and on the other hand that despite the similar physiological and psychological responses between the TSST and the TSST-G evidenced by the literature, the experience of the participants was both similar and specific. Use of a qualitative method allowed us to provide a complementary point of view to understand the meaningful experience of participants during these stressful procedures, apprehending the dynamic of the subjective stress experience without disrupting it.

Citing Articles

Effects of Sleep Reactivity on Sleep Macro-Structure, Orderliness, and Cortisol After Stress: A Preliminary Study in Healthy Young Adults.

Feng Y, Chen J, Hu Z, Liu G, Zhou Y, Zhang P Nat Sci Sleep. 2023; 15:533-546.

PMID: 37434994 PMC: 10332417. DOI: 10.2147/NSS.S415464.

Classification of emotional stress and physical stress using a multispectral based deep feature extraction model.

Hong K Sci Rep. 2023; 13(1):2693.

PMID: 36792679 PMC: 9931761. DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-29903-3.

Social evaluation under stress: Does acute stress affect social attributions and eye gaze?.

Azulay H, Guy N, Shalev I, Pertzov Y, Israel S Compr Psychoneuroendocrinol. 2022; 8:100093.

PMID: 35757674 PMC: 9216653. DOI: 10.1016/j.cpnec.2021.100093.

Empathy Modulates the Effect of Stress Reactivity on Generous Giving.

Azulay H, Guy N, Pertzov Y, Israel S Front Neurosci. 2022; 16:814789.

PMID: 35546889 PMC: 9081844. DOI: 10.3389/fnins.2022.814789.

Real-Time Assessment of Stress and Stress Response Using Digital Phenotyping: A Study Protocol.

Egger S, Knorr M, Bobes J, Bernstein A, Seifritz E, Vetter S Front Digit Health. 2021; 2:544418.

PMID: 34713030 PMC: 8521792. DOI: 10.3389/fdgth.2020.544418.

References

RKiouak M, Saury J, Durand M, Bourbousson J . Joint Action of a Pair of Rowers in a Race: Shared Experiences of Effectiveness Are Shaped by Interpersonal Mechanical States. Front Psychol. 2016; 7:720. PMC: 4870391. DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2016.00720. View

von Dawans B, Kirschbaum C, Heinrichs M . The Trier Social Stress Test for Groups (TSST-G): A new research tool for controlled simultaneous social stress exposure in a group format. Psychoneuroendocrinology. 2010; 36(4):514-22. DOI: 10.1016/j.psyneuen.2010.08.004. View

Kirschbaum C, Pirke K, Hellhammer D . The 'Trier Social Stress Test'--a tool for investigating psychobiological stress responses in a laboratory setting. Neuropsychobiology. 1993; 28(1-2):76-81. DOI: 10.1159/000119004. View

Goodman W, Janson J, Wolf J . Meta-analytical assessment of the effects of protocol variations on cortisol responses to the Trier Social Stress Test. Psychoneuroendocrinology. 2017; 80:26-35. DOI: 10.1016/j.psyneuen.2017.02.030. View

Kimura K, Ozeki M, Juneja L, Ohira H . L-Theanine reduces psychological and physiological stress responses. Biol Psychol. 2006; 74(1):39-45. DOI: 10.1016/j.biopsycho.2006.06.006. View

Yim I, Quas J, Cahill L, Hayakawa C . Children's and adults' salivary cortisol responses to an identical psychosocial laboratory stressor. Psychoneuroendocrinology. 2009; 35(2):241-8. DOI: 10.1016/j.psyneuen.2009.06.014. View

Rimmele U, Seiler R, Marti B, Wirtz P, Ehlert U, Heinrichs M . The level of physical activity affects adrenal and cardiovascular reactivity to psychosocial stress. Psychoneuroendocrinology. 2008; 34(2):190-198. DOI: 10.1016/j.psyneuen.2008.08.023. View

Nater U, Moor C, Okere U, Stallkamp R, Martin M, Ehlert U . Performance on a declarative memory task is better in high than low cortisol responders to psychosocial stress. Psychoneuroendocrinology. 2007; 32(6):758-63. DOI: 10.1016/j.psyneuen.2007.05.006. View

Schwabe L, Haddad L, Schachinger H . HPA axis activation by a socially evaluated cold-pressor test. Psychoneuroendocrinology. 2008; 33(6):890-5. DOI: 10.1016/j.psyneuen.2008.03.001. View

10.

Het S, Rohleder N, Schoofs D, Kirschbaum C, Wolf O . Neuroendocrine and psychometric evaluation of a placebo version of the 'Trier Social Stress Test'. Psychoneuroendocrinology. 2009; 34(7):1075-86. DOI: 10.1016/j.psyneuen.2009.02.008. View

11.

Stalder T, Kirschbaum C, Kudielka B, Adam E, Pruessner J, Wust S . Assessment of the cortisol awakening response: Expert consensus guidelines. Psychoneuroendocrinology. 2015; 63:414-32. DOI: 10.1016/j.psyneuen.2015.10.010. View

12.

Bradley M, Lang P . Measuring emotion: the Self-Assessment Manikin and the Semantic Differential. J Behav Ther Exp Psychiatry. 1994; 25(1):49-59. DOI: 10.1016/0005-7916(94)90063-9. View

13.

Childs E, Vicini L, de Wit H . Responses to the Trier Social Stress Test (TSST) in single versus grouped participants. Psychophysiology. 2006; 43(4):366-71. DOI: 10.1111/j.1469-8986.2006.00414.x. View

14.

Wiemers U, Schoofs D, Wolf O . A friendly version of the trier social stress test does not activate the HPA axis in healthy men and women. Stress. 2012; 16(2):254-60. DOI: 10.3109/10253890.2012.714427. View

15.

Boesch M, Sefidan S, Ehlert U, Annen H, Wyss T, Steptoe A . Mood and autonomic responses to repeated exposure to the Trier Social Stress Test for Groups (TSST-G). Psychoneuroendocrinology. 2014; 43:41-51. DOI: 10.1016/j.psyneuen.2014.02.003. View

16.

Mohamed S, Favrod V, Antonini Philippe R, Hauw D . The Situated Management of Safety during Risky Sport: Learning from Skydivers' Courses of Experience. J Sports Sci Med. 2015; 14(2):340-6. PMC: 4424463. View

17.

Campbell J, Ehlert U . Acute psychosocial stress: does the emotional stress response correspond with physiological responses?. Psychoneuroendocrinology. 2012; 37(8):1111-34. DOI: 10.1016/j.psyneuen.2011.12.010. View

18.

Maier S, Seligman M . Learned helplessness at fifty: Insights from neuroscience. Psychol Rev. 2016; 123(4):349-67. PMC: 4920136. DOI: 10.1037/rev0000033. View

19.

Gesbert V, Durny A, Hauw D . How Do Soccer Players Adjust Their Activity in Team Coordination? An Enactive Phenomenological Analysis. Front Psychol. 2017; 8:854. PMC: 5445190. DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2017.00854. View

20.

Salama-Younes M, Montazeri A, Ismail A, Roncin C . Factor structure and internal consistency of the 12-item General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12) and the Subjective Vitality Scale (VS), and the relationship between them: a study from France. Health Qual Life Outcomes. 2009; 7:22. PMC: 2653033. DOI: 10.1186/1477-7525-7-22. View