Better sleep, lower blood pressure, and less stress following sex: Findings from a large-scale ecological momentary assessment study.

Objective: Previous cross-sectional studies have shown that more (vs. less) sexually active individuals tend to be mentally and physically healthier, but little is known about the proximal mechanisms underlying such associations.

Method: We analyzed two experience sampling data sets ( = 8,452, 66,181 observations; 72% male, age = 46.

A cluster randomized controlled trial to assess the impact of the 'Caring for Providers to Improve Patient Experience' (CPIPE) intervention in Kenya and Ghana: study protocol.

Background: Poor person-centered maternal care (PCMC) contributes to high maternal mortality and morbidity, directly and indirectly, through lack of, delayed, inadequate, unnecessary, or harmful care. While evidence on poor PCMC prevalence, as well as inequities, expanded in the last decade, there is still a significant gap in evidence-based interventions to address PCMC. We describe the protocol for a trial to test the effectiveness of the "Caring for Providers to Improve Patient Experience" (CPIPE) intervention, which includes five strategies, targeting provider stress and bias as intermediate factors to improve PCMC and address inequities.

The Good, the Bad, and the Variable: Examining Stress and Blood Pressure Responses to Close Relationships.

Social relationships influence physical health, yet questions remain regarding the nature of this association. For instance, when it comes to predicting health-relevant processes in daily life, few studies have examined (a) the relative importance of both positive negative relational experiences, and (b) in relational experiences (in addition to mean levels). To address these gaps, we conducted a daily study ( = 4,005; ~ 30,000 observations) examining relationships, stress, and physiology in daily life.

A cluster randomized controlled trial to assess the impact of the 'Caring for Providers to Improve Patient Experience' intervention on person-centered maternity care in Kenya and Ghana: Study Protocol.

Background: Poor person-centered maternal care (PCMC) contributes to high maternal mortality and morbidity, directly and indirectly, through lack of, delayed, inadequate, unnecessary, or harmful care. While evidence on poor PCMC prevalence, as well as inequities, expanded in the last decade, there is still a significant gap in evidence-based interventions to address PCMC. We describe the protocol for a trial to test the effectiveness of the intervention, which includes five strategies for provider behavior change, targeting provider stress and bias as intermediate factors to improve PCMC and to address inequities.

Localizing somatic symptoms associated with childhood maltreatment.

Childhood maltreatment has been linked to adult somatic symptoms, although this has rarely been examined in daily life. Furthermore, the localization of somatization associated with childhood maltreatment and its subtypes is unknown. This large-scale experience sampling study used body maps to examine the relationships between childhood maltreatment, its subtypes, and the intensity and location of negative somatic sensations in daily life.

Stress reduction experiments in daily life: Scaling from the lab to the world.

Paced breathing-longer exhalation than inhalation-can show short-term improvement of physiologic responses and affective well-being, though most studies have relied on narrow sample demographics, small samples, and control conditions that fail to address expectancy effects. We addressed these limitations through an app-based experiment where participants were randomly assigned to paced breathing or sham control (hand closure) conditions. We first validated the conditions in an online sample ( = 201; Study 1) and in a lab environment ( = 72; Study 2).

How Does Surgeons' Autonomic Physiology Vary Intraoperatively?: A Real-time Study of Cardiac Reactivity.

Objective: To measure the physiological responses of surgical team members under varying levels of intraoperative risk.

Background: Measurement of intraoperative physiological responses provides insight into how operation complexity, phase of surgery, and surgeon seniority impact stress.

Methods: Autonomic nervous system responses (interbeat intervals, IBIs) were measured continuously during different surgical operations of various complexity.

Mixed methods evaluation of the Caring for Providers to Improve Patient Experience intervention.

Objective: To assess the impact of the Caring for Providers to Improve Patient Experience (CPIPE) intervention, which sought to improve person-centered maternal care (PCMC) by addressing two key drivers: provider stress and bias.

Methods: CPIPE was successfully piloted over 6 months in two health facilities in Migori County, Kenya, in 2022. The evaluation employed a mixed-methods pretest-posttest nonequivalent control group design.

Age Differences in Physiological Reactivity to Daily Emotional Experiences.

Unlabelled: How does physiological reactivity to emotional experiences change with age? Previous studies addressing this question have mostly been conducted in laboratory settings during which emotions are induced via pictures, films, or relived memories, raising external validity questions. In the present research, we draw upon two datasets collected using ecological momentary assessment methods (totaling 134,723 daily reports from 14,436 individuals) to examine age differences in heart rate (HR) and blood pressure (BP) reactivity to naturally occurring emotional experiences. We first examined how older and younger individuals differ in the prevalence of emotions varying in valence and arousal.

Acute and Chronic Stress Associations With Blood Pressure: An Ecological Momentary Assessment Study on an App-Based Platform.

Objective: This study examined the within- and between-person associations of acute and chronic stress with blood pressure (BP) and heart rate (HR) using an app-based research platform.

Methods: We examined data from 31,964 adults (aged 18-90 years) in an app-based ecological momentary assessment study that used a research-validated optic sensor to measure BP.

Results: Within-person associations revealed that moments with (versus without) acute stress exposure were associated with higher systolic (SBP; b = 1.

Provider implicit and explicit bias in person-centered maternity care: a cross-sectional study with maternity providers in Northern Ghana.

Background: Person-centered maternity care (PCMC) has become a priority in the global health discourse on quality of care due to the high prevalence of disrespectful and lack of responsive care during facility-based childbirth. Although PCMC is generally sub-optimal, there are significant disparities. On average, women of low socioeconomic status (SES) tend to receive poorer PCMC than women of higher SES.

Lifespan psychosocial stressors, optimism, and hemodynamic acute stress response in a national sample.

Objective: To understand the association between psychosocial stressors and cardiovascular health by evaluating: (a) lifespan patterns of childhood and adulthood stressors in relation to hemodynamic acute stress reactivity and recovery and (b) the role of optimism in these associations.

Method: Participants (n = 1,092, 56% women, 21% racial/ethnic minority, Mage = 56.2) were from the Midlife in the United States Study II Biomarker Project.

Cardiac Vagal Control Among Community Cigarette Smokers with Low to Moderate Depressive Symptoms.

Impairments in cardiac vagal control (CVC) have been independently linked to smoking status and depression and are implicated in self-regulatory processes that may exacerbate depressive symptoms and maintain smoking behavior. Yet, few studies have examined how depressive symptoms, even at low levels, influence CVC reactivity among individuals who smoke. Investigating these relationships may provide novel insights into how depressive symptoms exacerbate existing regulatory vulnerabilities among smokers.

Individual and situational predictors of psychological and physiological stress and burnout among maternity providers in Northern Ghana.

Background: Maternity providers, including nurses, midwives, physicians, are at significant risk for stress and burnout due to the nature of care provision in maternal and child health settings. Yet, the empirical evidence on stress and burnout among maternity providers in sub-Saharan Africa is scarce. Therefore, the purpose of our study was to (1) assess levels of stress and burnout among maternity providers and support staff in Ghana, and (2) identify individual and situational factors associated with maternity provider stress, burnout, and physiology.

Detecting Physiological Responses Using Multimodal Earbud Sensors.

Continuous stress exposure negatively impacts mental and physical well-being. Physiological arousal due to stress affects heartbeat frequency, changes breathing pattern and peripheral temperature, among several other bodily responses. Traditionally stress detection is performed by collecting signals such as electrocardiogram (ECG), respiration, and skin conductance response using uncomfortable sensors such as a chestband.

The effects of intranasal oxytocin on black participants' responses to outgroup acceptance and rejection.

Social acceptance (vs. rejection) is assumed to have widespread positive effects on the recipient; however, ethnic/racial minorities often react to social acceptance by White individuals. One possibility for such reactions might be their lack of trust in the genuineness of White individuals' positive evaluations.

An Examination of Cardiac Vagal Control Indices and Cognitive Stress Appraisal in Cigarette Smokers.

Identifying factors that influence how individuals who smoke cigarettes respond to stress is important as stress is a risk factor for smoking and its maintenance. This study examined the modulatory role of cardiac vagal control (CVC), a physiological correlate of self-regulation, on cognitive stress appraisal processes of adults who smoke. Sixty daily cigarette smokers were randomized to receive positive or negative feedback during a modified Trier Social Stress Test.

Comparing daily physiological and psychological benefits of gratitude and optimism using a digital platform.

Gratitude and optimism are positive psychological dispositions associated with beneficial outcomes. To examine their associations with physiological and psychological experiences in daily life, we examined data from an Ecological Momentary Assessment study ( = 4,825), including blood pressure, heart rate, and reports of stress, health behaviors, and thoughts. Trait gratitude and trait optimism both predicted lower heart rate and blood pressure, better sleep quality, more exercise, less stress, more positive expectations and reflections, and greater feelings of appreciation toward others.

Oxytocin increases physiological linkage during group therapy for methamphetamine use disorder: a randomized clinical trial.

Patients and psychotherapists often exhibit behavioral, psychological, and physiological similarity. Here, we test whether oxytocin-a neuropeptide that can enhance expressivity and social perception-influences time-lagged "linkage" of autonomic nervous system responses among participants and facilitators during group therapy. Physiological linkage estimates (n = 949) were created from ten cohorts, each with two facilitators (n = 5) and four to six participants (n = 48), over six weekly sessions of group therapy for methamphetamine use disorder.

A Multisite Preregistered Paradigmatic Test of the Ego-Depletion Effect.

We conducted a preregistered multilaboratory project ( = 36; = 3,531) to assess the size and robustness of ego-depletion effects using a novel replication method, termed the . Each laboratory implemented one of two procedures that was intended to manipulate self-control and tested performance on a subsequent measure of self-control. Confirmatory tests found a nonsignificant result ( = 0.

A large-scale study of stress, emotions, and blood pressure in daily life using a digital platform.

Stress is often associated with pathophysiologic responses, like blood pressure (BP) reactivity, which when experienced repeatedly may be one pathway through which stress leads to poor physical health. Previous laboratory and field studies linking stress to physiological measures are limited by small samples, narrow demographics, and artificial stress manipulations, whereas large-scale studies often do not capture measures like BP reactivity in daily life. We examined perceived stress, emotions, heart rate, and BP during daily life using a 3-wk app-based study.

Is vicarious stress functionally adaptive? Perspective-taking modulates the effects of vicarious stress on future firsthand stress.

Mere observation of others experiencing stress is often sufficient to evoke stress vicariously, especially when people try to understand the situation from the viewpoint of others. Here, we tested whether and how the experience of vicarious stress, facilitated by perspective-taking, would influence individuals' affective and motivational reactions to an upcoming experience of firsthand stress-when they themselves encounter the same stressor in the future. Participants viewed a video clip of another participant undergoing a stressful task (a speech task), after being randomly assigned to take either a first-person perspective of the person (perspective-taking condition; = 45) or maintain a detached, third-person, observer perspective (objective condition; = 46).