Cumulative trauma, emotion reactivity and salivary cytokine levels following acute stress in healthy women

ABSTRACT

Background and Objectives: To better understand how trauma leads to poor health, this study examined whether cumulative trauma and emotion reactivity contribute to pro- (IL-1β) and anti-inflammatory (IL-10) salivary cytokine levels after stress.

Design: Seventy-three women, screened to be physically and mentally healthy, completed an acute stress paradigm and measures of lifetime trauma exposure.

Method: Saliva was collected 10 min before (i.e., baseline) and 35 min after the onset of a 10-min stressor. State negative and positive emotion were measured at baseline and post-stress.

Results: Most participants reported exposure to at least one trauma, with a mean of five. Cumulative trauma was associated with higher post-stress IL-1β and IL-1β/IL-10, but not with IL-10 or changes in emotion. Declines in positive emotion correlated with greater post-stress IL-1β.

Conclusions: These findings suggest that both cumulative trauma exposure and positive emotion have implications for salivary cytokine responses to acute stress. The inclusion of healthy women strengthens internal validity, and increases confidence that observed associations between trauma and salivary cytokine responses can be attributed to trauma, rather than to confounding health problems. This study adds to the growing literature examining how trauma may connect to cytokines, and ultimately, poor health.

KEYWORDS:

• Cytokines
• cumulative trauma
• emotion reactivity
• anti-inflammatory
• trauma exposure

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1 We reran analyses examining total life events, including response option 3 (M = 13.14, SD = 7.14). The same pattern of results was found for IL-1β (β = 0.21, p = .004), IL-10 (β = −0.04, p = .70) and IL-1β/IL-10 ratio (β = 0.16, p = .01). We also reran analyses examining direct trauma only (events endorsed as “happened to me”; M = 2.33, SD = 1.70). The pattern of results was changed for IL-1β (β = 0.02, p = .82) and IL-1β/IL-10 ratio (β = 0.08, p = .22), but not for IL-10 (β = −0.09, p = .39).

2 This pattern of findings did not change when the measure of trauma included all response options (total life events) for negative (β = 0.12, p = .32) or positive emotion (β = 0.17, p = .15). Similarly, findings did not change when using the measure of direct trauma only for negative (β = −0.08, p = .49) or positive emotion (β = −0.15, p = .22).

Additional information

Funding

This research was supported by grant funding from Psi Chi, University of Louisville College of Arts & Sciences, and the Graduate Student Council at the University of Louisville as well as a sponsorship from the University of Louisville Women’s Center.