Physical versus psychosocial stress: effects on hormonal, autonomic, and psychological parameters in healthy young men

Figures & data

Table 1. Characteristics of individuals (N = 32).

	Individuals
Total, N	32
Age, M (SD)	24.31 (3.35)
BMI (kg · m^−2), M (SD)	23.56 (2.30)
Waist to Hip ratio, M (SD)	0.88 (0.07)
Relative VO2max (mL · min^−1 · kg^−1), M (SD)	51.85 (9.16)
Max. power (W), M (SD)	293.75 (49.63)
Smokers, n	2
Cigarettes/day	5/day
BDI, M (SD)	2.69 (2.79)
SCL Global Severity Index, M (SD)	0.18 (0.17)
PSS, M (SD)	17.69 (5.87)
FFKA Short, total activity, M (SD)	386.09 (369.14)
FFKA inactive, M (SD)	n = 8; 89 (23.84)
FFKA moderately active, M (SD)	n = 10; 198.75 (65.94)
FFKA vigorously active, M (SD)	n = 14; 689.60 (375.51)
Relative VO2max untrained (mL · min^−1 · kg^−1), M (SD)	n = 16; 45.17 (6.75)
Relative VO2max trained (mL · min^−1 · kg^−1), M (SD)	n = 16; 58.53 (5.68)

Displayed are the means and standard deviations.

n: sample; M: Mean; SD: Standard Deviation; BMI: Body Mass Index; VO₂max: maximal oxygen consumption; Max. power: maximal reached power in preliminary investigation.

Figure 1. Wingate timesheet. The timeline information is related to the use of stress. Solid line = subject on ergometer; dashed line: subject in supine or seated position; arrow down: permanent venous catheter; marked columns: physical stress.

Figure 2. Trier Social Stress Test timesheet. Timeline information is related to the use of stress. Solid line: subject in stress task; dashed line: subject in supine or seated position; arrow down: permanent venous catheter; marked column: psychosocial stress.

Figure 3. Serum cortisol response (nmol/l) to physical (Wingate) and psychosocial stress (TSST) in 32 healthy subjects. Shown are the mean values with standard errors. Time information is related to the use of stress. Marked column: stress induction; white circles: Wingate; black squares: TSST.

Figure 4. HRV response to physical (Wingate) and psychosocial stress (TSST) in 32 healthy subjects. (a) Root mean square successive differences (RMSSD), (b) Low frequency power (LF) and (c) Low frequency/high frequency ratio (LF/HF). Shown are the mean values with standard errors. sb : standardized breathing, rec : recovery. White circles: Wingate; black squares: TSST.

Table 2. HRV statistics.

	ANOVA Time Effect		Contrasts of stressor phases
	F	df	p	1 Versus 2	2 Versus 3	3 Versus 4	4 Versus 5	5 Versus 6
WGRMSSDLFHFLF/HF ratio	57.9426.9418.9721.05	1.74, 54.062.47, 76.431.12, 34,59 2.94, 91.26	0.0000.0000.0000.000	n.s.n.s.s.n.s.	s.n.s.n.s.s.	s.s.s.n.s.	n.s.n.s.n.s.n.s.	s.s.n.s.n.s.
TSSTRMSSDLFHFLF/HF ratio	15.594.057.723.17	1.75, 54.292.16, 67.061.16, 36.01 2.04, 63.18	0.0000.0190.0060.048	n.s.n.s.n.s.n.s.	s.n.s.n.s.n.s.	n.s.n.s.n.s.n.s.	s.n.s.n.s.s.	n.s.n.s.n.s.n.s.

WG: Wingate; TSST: Trier Social Stress Test; RMSSD: Root mean square of successive differences; LF: low frequency; HF: high frequency; 1 = standardized breathing; 2 = in rest (1); 3 = WG: warm-up/TSST: interview; 4 = WG: second break/TSST: arithmetic; 5 = WG: cool-down/TSST: recovery; 6 = in rest (2); n.s.: not significant; s: significant.