Stress reactivity and vulnerability to depressed mood in college students

Two studies reported here found that in response to common, minor stressors, stress reactivity (defined as mean stress per stressor) was a stronger predictor than total stress of depressed mood in traditional and nontraditional college men and women. A prospective study found individual reactivity scores varied over time, but relationships between stress and depressed mood held across four monthly assessments. Stress reactivity also accounted for more incremental variance in depressed mood than total stress after controlling for previous depressed mood. When students in the cross-sectional study were classified into reactivity groups, scores for depressed mood increased steadily for students in the very low through high reactivity groups, as did percentages of students with depressed mood scores that might indicate depression in normal populations. This study also found that stress reactivity was more strongly correlated than total stress with neuroticism and its facets (or traits) of depression, anxiety, and vulnerability to stress in the five-factor model of personality. Taken together, these studies suggest that elevated stress reactivity to minor stressors may indicate diminished ability to cope with everyday challenges and may predict increased vulnerability to depressed mood in a normal population

Where to take a study break on the college campus: An attention restoration theory perspective

College students spend much of their time on campus engaged in activities that require sustained directed attention, which may lead to attention fatigue. They would benefit from campus settings that provide effective restoration breaks and allow them to return to their work cognitively refreshed. Studies have found direct exposure to nature, viewing nature through windows, and viewing images of nature are restorative. In the present study, college students, instructed to imagine themselves cognitively fatigued, rated the perceived restorativeness of indoor campus settings that varied by view of nature: some had no views of nature, some had window views of nature with built structures present, and some had views of simulated nature depicted as large nature murals. Students rated settings with views of dramatic nature murals, especially those with water, more restorative than settings with window views of real, but mundane nature with built structures present. Students rated settings that lacked views of real or simulated nature least restorative. The findings suggest that large nature murals in indoor settings used for study breaks may provide attentionally fatigued students with opportunities for restoration when views of nature are unavailable or limited in restorative potential

Stress Reactivity, Depressive Symptoms, and Mindfulness: A Gulf Arab Perspective

Explorations of the relationship between stress reactivity and depression are relatively scarce outside of Europe and North America. This research examined the relationship between emotional reactivity to daily life stressors (stress reactivity) and depressive symptoms among citizens of the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Emirati college students ( N = 286, 76% females) completed a culturally grounded measure of daily life stress, along with measures of depression and anxiety symptoms. Stress reactivity was associated with elevated depression and anxiety symptoms. In a second study, we examined the efficacy of a Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) program within the same population. Emirati College women ( N = 24) were randomly assigned to either an 8-week MBSR program or a waiting list control group (WLC). MBSR participants demonstrated significantly greater reductions in stress reactivity and depressive symptoms compared with the WLC group. These findings extend the stress reactivity literature to an Arabian Gulf nation. Interventions that help young adults better manage responses to daily life stress may play an important role in reducing the prevalence of depressive illness in the region

The great outdoors? Exploring the mental health benefits of natural environments

There is growing evidence to suggest that exposure to natural environments can be associated with mental health benefits. Proximity to greenspace has been associated with lower levels of stress (Thompson et al., 2012) and reduced symptomology for depression and anxiety (Beyer et al., 2014), while interacting with nature can improve cognition for children with attention deficits (Taylor and Kuo, 2009) and individuals with depression (Berman et al., 2012). A recent epidemiological study has shown that people who move to greener urban areas benefit from sustained improvements in their mental health (Alcock et al., 2014). In this paper we critically review evidence indicating that such mental health benefits are associated with the so-called “restorative” properties of natural environments. In particular we focus on the claim that interaction with (or just passive perception of) natural scene content can be linked to the restoration of limited-capacity attentional resources, in comparison to similar exposure to urban or built scene content

Virtual reality as a recovering environment - Implications for design principles

Peer reviewe

The use of virtual reality as a potential restorative environment in school during recess

Peer reviewe

Hostility, Physical Aggression and Trait Anger as Predictors for Suicidal Behavior in Chinese Adolescents: A School-Based Study

Purpose: This study explored the extent to which trait aggression is associated with suicidal behavior in a nationwide school-based sample of adolescents. Methods: A nationwide sample of 14,537 high school students in urban areas of China was recruited. Information concerning suicide ideation, plans, attempts, trait aggression and other risk factors was collected by a self-reported questionnaire. Multivariate regression analyses were employed to predict suicidal behavior. Results: Approximately 18.5 % of students reported suicide ideation, 8.7 % reported suicide plans, and 4.1 % reported attempts during the past one year. Hostility and trait anger had a significant positive association with suicidal ideation. Hostility and physical aggression were positively related to suicide plans. Hostility had a positive correlation with suicide attempts, while trait anger was inversely associated with suicide attempts. Conclusions: This study suggests that hostility, physical aggression and trait anger may be able to be used to predict suicidal behavior among adolescents. Suicide prevention programs should target at attenuating the severity of hostility, anger and physical aggression. But teachers and parents should also give close attention to students with low trait anger

A PSYCHOBIOLOGICAL INVESTIGATION OF THE SENSORY CODES THAT MEDIATE VISUAL MASKING

Abstract not availabl

Minor stressors and depressed mood: reactivity is more strongly correlated than total stress

This study evaluated how strongly total stress and stress reactivity to minor stressors were correlated with depressed mood in traditional and non-traditional college women (n = 146). Stress reactivity, which was conceptualized as mean stress per stressor, accounted more strongly than number of potentially stressful encounters for total stress, and was more strongly correlated than total stress with symptoms of depressed mood, after controlling for initial depressed mood and neuroticism. Reactivity was associated with greater use of avoidance coping and higher levels of neuroticism, which suggest that it may represent a stable individual difference and possibly serve as a predictor of depressed mood, especially in response to minor stressors