Mindfulness witnessed a substantial popularity surge in the past decade, especially as digitally self-administered interventions became available at relatively low costs. Yet, it is uncertain whether they effectively help reduce stress. In a preregistered (OSF https://doi.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjective: Technology is changing the way individuals socially connect. However, not much is known about how online forms of social exchanges might link to outcomes that predict longevity. This preregistered study examined the association between online social support and social negativity with self-rated health (SRH) and potential pathways responsible for such links.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjective: Social support has been linked to a vast range of beneficial health outcomes. However, the physiological mechanisms of social support are not well characterized. Drawing on functional magnetic resonance imaging and health-related outcome data, this study aimed to understand how neural measures of "yielding"-the reduction of brain activity during social support-moderate the link between social support and health.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFConceptual models of psychosocial influences on short-term changes (i.e., reactivity) in vagally-mediated heart rate variability (vmHRV) emphasize self-regulatory effort and social threat versus comfort.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAdolescent success providing satisfying support in response to a close friend's call in a caregiving task was examined as a potentially fundamental developmental competence likely to predict future social functioning, adult caregiving security, and physical health. Adolescents (86 males, 98 females; 58% White, 29% African American, 8% mixed race/ethnicity, 5% other) were followed from ages 13 to 33 (1998-2021) using multiple methods and reporters. Early caregiving success was found to predict greater self- and partner-reported caregiving security, lower negativity in adult relationships, and higher adult vagal tone.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjective: Hispanic/Latino(x) and African American/Black older adults experience disproportionate cardiometabolic disease burdens when compared with their non-Hispanic White counterparts. Sources of resilience such as social networks have been found to mitigate the risk of this disease and its end points like high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP). However, little is known about the social network infrastructure among these groups.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPrevious studies have shown that lower social support is associated with higher all-cause mortality (Holt-Lunstad et al. in PLoS ONE Medicine 7:e1000316, 2010). While social support has been associated with system-specific biological measures (e.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPartialing correlated predictors to test independent effects is an essential tool in couple research. In actor-partner models, partners' parallel scores are partialed in tests of unique associations with outcomes. Correlated aspects of couple functioning are also often partialed within individuals to examine separate effects.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground And Objectives: Although dispositional optimism and pessimism have been prospectively associated with health outcomes, little is known about how these associations manifest in everyday life. This study examined how short-term optimistic and pessimistic expectations were associated with psychological and physiological stress processes.
Methods: A diverse sample of adults (= 300) completed a 2-day/1-night ecological momentary assessment and ambulatory blood pressure (ABP) protocol at ∼45-minute intervals.
Individuals who grow up in families with lower socioeconomic status (SES) tend to experience disproportionate rates of chronic stress. The "freeze" response, characterized by blunted cardiovascular reactivity and reduced engagement with the environment, is associated with chronic stress and may be utilized when an individual is unable to escape or overcome environmental stressors. Using a diverse community sample of 184 adolescents followed from the age of 13 to 29 years, along with their friends and romantic partners, this study examined links between family SES and stress responses in adulthood.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFUnderstanding whether and how the absence of positive relationships may predict longer-term physical health outcomes is central to building a working conceptual model of the interplay of social and physical development across the lifespan. This study sought to examine the extent to which difficulties establishing positive social relationships from adolescence onward serve as long-term predictors of low adult vagal tone, which in turn has been linked to numerous long-term health problems. A diverse community sample of 141 individuals was followed via multiple methods and reporters from age 13 to 29.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIn research on couples, statistical adjustment (i.e., partialing) for correlations between partners' parallel scores is common and useful, as in the actor-partner interdependence model.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFInt J Environ Res Public Health
January 2022
Social support has been linked to lower cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. However, most studies have examined perceived support as an intrapersonal construct. A dyadic approach to social support highlights how interdependence between individuals within relationships, including partner perceptions and interactions, can influence one's health.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPerceived social support has been linked to lower rates of morbidity and mortality. However, more information is needed on the biological mechanisms potentially responsible for such links. The main aim of this paper was to conduct a meta-analytic review of the association between perceived social support and awake ambulatory blood pressure (ABP) which is linked to cardiovascular morbidity and mortality.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFStress Recovery Theory (SRT) suggests that time spent in nature reduces stress. While many studies have examined changes in stress physiology after exposure to nature imagery, nature virtual reality, or nature walks, this study is the first to examine changes in heart rate (HR) and vagally mediated HR variability, as assessed by Respiratory Sinus Arrythmia (RSA), after a longer duration of nature exposure. Consistent with SRT, we hypothesized that immersion in nature would promote stress recovery, as indexed by an increase in RSA and a decrease in HR.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFHigher quality relationships have been linked to improved outcomes; however, the measurement of relationship quality often ignores its complexity and the possibility of co-occurring positivity and negativity across different contexts. The goal of this study is to test the added benefit of including multiple dimensions, contexts, and perspectives of relationship quality from both individuals in predicting marital functioning. The Social Relationships Index assessed positive and negative dimensions of relationship quality under neutral, positive, and support-seeking contexts for 183 heterosexual married couples.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThere is strong evidence linking relationships and emotions to physical health outcomes. What is critically missing is a more comprehensive understanding of how these important psychosocial factors influence disease over the lifespan. In this narrative review, existing lifespan models of social support and emotion regulation are reviewed and integrated into a general conceptual framework in the health domain.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFHeart rate variability (HRV) associated with parasympathetic activity (i.e., cardiac vagal tone) is reduced in posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), but possible confounding effects of respiration have not been studied sufficiently.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBlunted cardiovascular responses to stress have been associated with both mental and physical health concerns. This multi-method, longitudinal study examined the role of chronic social-developmental stress from adolescence onward as a precursor to these blunted stress responses. Using a diverse community sample of 184 adolescents followed from age 13 to 29 along with friends and romantic partners, this study found that high levels of parental psychological control at age 13 directly predicted a blunted heart rate response and indirectly predicted blunted respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) reactivity under stress.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Social support and social integration have been linked to lower rates of morbidity and mortality. However, the biological mechanisms responsible for such links need greater attention. Vaccine paradigms provide an integrative window into immune system involvement in the protective influence of social support/integration.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPosttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is associated with strain in marriage and similar intimate relationships, and such difficulties could contribute to associations of PTSD with risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD). Heightened cardiovascular reactivity (CVR) during stressful marital interactions may be an important mechanism in this regard. This study examined dysfunctional behavior during marital conflict as a mediator of the association of PTSD with heightened CVR during these interactions.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjective: Despite the well-established association between self-rated health (SRH) and health, little is known about the potential psychobiological mechanisms responsible for such links and if these associations differ by age. The main goals of this study were to investigate the links between SRH and ambulatory blood pressure (ABP), if age moderated the risk, and the health behavior/affective mechanisms responsible for such links.
Methods: A total of 188 men and women (94 married couples; ages, 18-63 years) completed a standard measure of SRH and a 1-day ABP assessment.
Psychosocial factors predict the development and course of cardiovascular disease, perhaps through sympathetic and parasympathetic mechanisms. At rest, heart rate (HR) is under parasympathetic control, often measured as high-frequency heart rate variability (HF-HRV). During stress, HR is influenced jointly by parasympathetic and sympathetic processes, the latter often quantified as pre-ejection period (PEP).
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