Three-Faceted Approach to Perceived Stress: A Longitudinal Study of Stress Hormones, Personality, and Group Cohesion in the Real-Life Setting of Compulsory Basic Military Training

Compulsory basic military training is characterized not only by being challenging but also by being stressful. Assuming a high frequency of perceived stress events as a negative outcome of training, this article provides evidence on how the perceived frequency of stressful situations is affected by three types of factors: (i) biological stress response variables measured by hair steroid hormone levels, (ii) personality traits measured using the Big Five personality test, and (iii) group cohesion measures in military squads. A total of 112 conscripts in 11 squads participated in the research at the beginning (T1), in the middle (T2), and at the end (T3) of compulsory basic military training. Hair steroid hormone levels (cortisol, cortisone, and dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA)) levels were measured by liquid mass spectrometry; other data were collected using self-report questionnaires. The results of the Poisson regression analysis indicated that hair steroid hormone cortisol had a statistically significantly impact and could increase the perceived frequency of stressful situations by up to 1.317 (e0.275, T2) times. The concentrations of other hormones (cortisone = 1.157, e0.146, T3 and DHEA = 1.020, e0.020, T3) also had a statistically significant effect. Other factors had a decreasing effect on the frequency. Extraversion was significant with an effect of 0.907 (e−0.098, T2) and 0.847 (e−0.166, T3), while task cohesion had an effect of 0.946 (e−0.056) and norm cohesion of 0.954 (e−0.047). The research indicates that the three groups of factors affect the perceived frequency of stressful situations during compulsory basic military training, but their impacts are considerably different.publishedVersio

Perceived stress and hair cortisol levels amongst conscripts during basic military training: A repeated measures study

The aim was to examine hair cortisol levels and self-reported stress amongst conscripts during their basic military training, and how they are related to four types of theory-derived determinants. The following prediction was made: lower levels of perceived stress and hair cortisol will be associated with: (1) higher levels of emotional stability (the individual nonmilitary aspect); (2) a lower degree of private life problems (the contextual nonmilitary aspect); (3) more positive attitudes toward the military, higher engagement in military service, and higher adaptability to military conditions (the individual-military aspect); and (4) stronger group cohesion and better leadership (the contextual-military aspect). The sample consisted of a total of 107 male Lithuanian conscripts. Assessments were made at the beginning of their basic military training, in the middle, and at the end. Established instruments were used on all self-reported scales. Hair cortisol levels were established through analyses of hair samples. Low to moderate levels of stress were found throughout the basic training period regarding perceived stress levels. Hair cortisol levels were mainly unrelated to the self-rating scales. Regarding perceived stress, the prediction was fully confirmed. The future value of the theoretical model is discussed.publishedVersio

Hair Cortisol, Perceived Stress, and the Effect of Group Dynamics: A Longitudinal Study of Young Men during Compulsory Military Training in Lithuania

Previous research shows a nonlinear dependency between hair cortisol concentrations and perceived stress levels. This may be due to stress being targeted at the individual level despite it also being a social phenomenon which is often affected by group dynamics. Therefore, the objective of this study was to determine the influence of perceived stress on the hair cortisol level, considering the impact of the variables of group dynamics (interpersonal, task, and norm cohesion). Information was collected on 11 groups of, in total, 112 young men in three phases of time during their compulsory military training (covering nine months in total). The classification and regression tree (C&RT) method was used to predict hair cortisol concentrations in groups. The results show that the variability of the hair cortisol level in young men groups can be explained by perceived stress only when the groups were in formation process (47.7% normalised importance in Model 1) and when the groups were working on their final tasks (37.80% normalised importance in Model 3); meanwhile, the importance of perceived stress in explaining hair cortisol concentrations is low when the group is in a routine period of a group life-span (28.9% normalised importance in Model 2). Interpersonal cohesion (normalised importance 100% in Model 1 and 80.0% in Model 3) and task cohesion (normalised importance 78.6% in Model 2) were the most important predictors in the study area. These results point to the importance of the elements of group dynamics when it comes to explaining the nature of hair cortisol as accumulated stress biomarkers in young men.publishedVersio

Association of hair glucocorticoid levels with sleep quality indicators: a pilot study in apparently healthy perimenopausal and menopausal women

BackgroundPoor sleep quality is associated with different physical and mental health diseases. It is proposed that increased hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis activity is a potential contributor affecting sleep pattern and quality. We aimed to analyze the relationship between subjective sleep quality indicators and hair glucocorticoid levels among relatively healthy perimenopausal and postmenopausal women.MethodsA total of 145 women aged 50–64 y.o. were enrolled in the cross-sectional pilot study. Sleep quality was evaluated using the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index, while stress level was measured using the Perceived Stress Scale. Hair cortisol and cortisone levels were determined by ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry.ResultsStatistically significant positive relationship was found between hair cortisol concentration and Pittsburgh sleep quality index score. Similarly, statistically significant positive associations were observed between hair total glucocorticoid level and Pittsburgh sleep quality index, sleep disturbance, and Perceived Stress Scale scores. Subjects with prolonged sleep latency had significantly higher hair cortisol and total hair glucocorticoid concentrations compared with individuals whose sleep latency is not disturbed. Additionally, Chi-squared test indicated that lower hair cortisol concentration was significantly related to better sleep efficiency.ConclusionIncreased hair glucocorticoid (cortisol, cortisone) levels were found to be related with worse sleep quality measured by Pittsburgh sleep quality index score

Use of the research into the language of blogs in language classes

One of the most urgent problems in today's schools is progressing illiteracy in pupils. They spend a lot of time in the virtual realm; that is why the mistakes made in the electronic text are repeated in the written text. This article briefly describes how much attention is paid to the subject of electronic text in General Education Programmes, in the Pupils' Achievement and Development Guidelines or course books; the reader is also familiarised with the research designed for elaborating the current situation and reasons of the use of language. The methods how to use the electronic text in language classes and to improve the capacity in the use of language by pupils have also been presented

Kadmio jonų poveikis pelės kepenų baltymų sintezės pradinei stadijai ir ląstelių žūčiai

Objective. To evaluate in vivo and in vitro effects of cadmium ions on the activities of mice liver tRNALeu and leucyl-tRNA synthetase and on the type of liver cells death. Material and methods. White laboratory mice were intoxicated by intraperitoneal injection of cadmium chloride solution (1.6 mg cadmium ions/1 kg of body weigh). Total tRNAs were isolated by adding ethanol and isopropanol into the phenol-deproteinized supernatant of mouse liver homogenate. Post-mitochondrial fraction of the liver cells was used as a source of leucyl-tRNA synthetase. Acceptor activity of tRNALeu and activity of leucyl-tRNA synthetase were measured in tRNA aminoacylation reaction with [14C]-labeled leucine as a substrate. An apoptotic cell death was assessed by the TUNEL assay using in situ cell death detection kit. DNA degradation was verified by electrophoresis. Results. It was determined that 2–24 hours after intoxication with sublethal dose of cadmium ions the acceptor activity of mice liver tRNALeu was decreased by 43–73% as compared to control. At the same time intervals, the activity of leucyl-tRNA synthetase was reduced about 20–30%. Experiments in vitro revealed that 10–20 µM concentrations of cadmium ions suppressed the activities of mice liver tRNALeu and leucyl-tRNA synthetase by 40–98%. No significant difference was observed between the number of TUNEL positive apoptotic liver cells in the control mice and 24 hours after intoxication with cadmium chloride. Electrophoresis revealed extensive degradation of nuclear DNA. Conclusions. Cadmium ions significantly reduce activities of tRNALeu and leucyl-tRNA synthetase in vivo and in vitro. There is no significant difference between the number of apoptotic cells in the control liver specimens and in those after 24 hours of intoxication with cadmium chloride. In latter specimens DNA electrophoresis revealed as extensive degradation of DNA, which is characteristic to the cell necrosis

Association between hair cortisol concentration and metabolic syndrome

Metabolic syndrome(MetS)is a highly preva-lent disorder defined as a cluster of cardiometabolic riskfactors including obesity, hyperglycemia, hypertension,and dyslipidemia. It is believed that excessive cortisolsecretion due to psychosocial stress-induced hypotha-lamic-pituitary-adrenal axis activation might be involvedin the pathogenesis of MetS. We sought to explore theassociation between MetS and psychosocial risk factors,as well as cortisol concentration measured in different bio-logical specimens including saliva, blood serum, and hairsamples. The study was conducted on a sample of 163young and middle-aged men who were divided into groupsaccording to the presence of MetS. Hair cortisol concentra-tion(HCC)was determined using high performance liquidchromatography with UV detection, while blood serum andsalivary cortisol levels were measured by enzyme-linkedimmunoassay. Lipid metabolism biomarkers were deter-mined using routine laboratory methods. Anthropometricand lifestyle characteristics, as well as self-reported psy-chosocial indicators, were also examined. Significantlyhigher HCC and lower social support level among partici-pants with MetS compared with individuals without MetSwere found. However, no significant differences in bloodserum and salivary cortisol levels were observed betweenmen with and without MetS. In conclusion, chronically elevated cortisol concentration might be a potential contri-buting factor to the development of MetS