Chronic stress and executive functioning: A specification-curve analysis.

To investigate the association between chronic stress and executive functioning (EF), we assessed 514 young to middle-aged adults in three EF tasks (i.e., Number-Letter, 2-Back, Go/Nogo) that assessed shifting, updating, and inhibition.

Intra-individual stability of hair endocannabinoid and N-acylethanolamine concentrations.

Hair analysis of endocannabinoids and N-acylethanolamines presents a promising methodological advancement for the retrospective assessment of long-term cumulative endocannabinoids and N-acylethanolamines secretion over extended periods of time. A main assumption of this method application that hair endocannabinoid and N-acylethanolamine concentrations show intra-individual stability has not been confirmed yet. Thus, in the current study hair endocannabinoid and N-acylethanolamine levels were measured over a period of two and a half years with six months between each hair sample collection in 100 female participants.

Temporal stability and effect dynamics between executive functions, perceived chronic stress, and hair cortisol concentrations.

Accidents caused by human errors illustrate the fragility of cognitive processing and its coordination by executive functions against stress. To better understand how core executive functions change over time, influence each other, and are affected by chronic stress exposure, a prospective cohort study was conducted from 2016 to 2019. Five hundred sixteen German adults aged 25-55 years (mean age/education age: 38.

How to deal with non-detectable and outlying values in biomarker research: Best practices and recommendations for univariate imputation approaches.

Non-detectable (ND) and outlying concentration values (OV) are a common challenge of biomarker investigations. However, best practices on how to aptly deal with the affected cases are still missing. The high methodological heterogeneity in biomarker-oriented research, as for example, in the field of psychoneuroendocrinology, and the statistical bias in some of the applied methods may compromise the robustness, comparability, and generalizability of research findings.

Comparison of hair cortisol concentrations between self- and professionally-collected hair samples and the role of five-factor personality traits as potential moderators.

Cortisol concentration of hair (HCC) is an established biomarker in stress research that can provide valuable retrospective information on subjects' long-term cortisol levels. Using a population-wide sample of in total N = 482 participants this study aimed to examine whether there are differences in HCC when participants collect the required samples by themselves with the help of a partner in domestic settings compared to professionally collected hair strands in the lab. Potential confounding factors that may affect HCC and might obfuscate the outcomes were considered.

Reconsidering the construct validity of self-reported chronic stress: A multidimensional item response theory approach.

Emerging evidence shows that the construct validity of commonly used chronic stress measures is questionable. Item response theory was used to evaluate the psychometric properties of the Perceived Stress Questionnaire (PSQ), the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS), and the Screening Scale of Chronic Stress (SSCS). Using multidimensional item response modeling of data from two population-based samples (₁ = 5,379, ₂ = 504), we identified and conceptually replicated a five-dimensional model combining items of chronic stress, neuroticism (i.

The psychometric properties and temporal dynamics of subjective stress, retrospectively assessed by different informants and questionnaires, and hair cortisol concentrations.

To date, there is only scarce evidence for a considerable association of subjective and objective stress measures, which might be attributable to method bias (e.g., confounding) and/or asynchrony of their temporal changes.