If at first you don't succeed: the neuroendocrine impact of using a range of strategies during social conflict

Abstract

Using a variety of cognitive or behavioral strategies to manage stressful situations may be more adaptive than relying on a narrow selection. Although research has explored the psychological benefits of a range of coping responses, the physiological impact within and across stressful situations has not been examined. Moreover, research has primarily relied upon self-reports of what people believe they generally do across stressful situations, which may be subject to recall bias. This study observed and coded the range of behavioral response strategies that young adults (n=74, mean age 18.1) used to manage a laboratory-based, interpersonal conflict task and collected self-reports of the cognitive strategies used to manage similar stressors. Analyses examined the impact of response range on cortisol activity during the task. Greater range of observed response strategies predicted lower cortisol reactivity (t(133)=2.65; p=.009), whereas the range of self-reported strategies was unrelated to cortisol reactivity (t(133)=.53; p=.60). Results support observational assessment as an important supplement to self-reports of responses to stress and suggest that the range of strategies used to manage the momentary demands of a stressful situation may help explain individual differences in the impact of stress on physiological systems.

Keywords:

• stress
• observational assessment
• coping
• cortisol
• reactivity

Acknowledgements

This research was supported by NIMH R03 MH069804-1 Luecken (PI). Preparation of the manuscript was partially supported by training grant T32 MH018387. We appreciate the research assistance of Amy Kraft, PhD.

Notes

1. Hormonal contraceptive use and the total number of behavioral responses during the interaction were also evaluated as potential covariates. Their inclusion did not change the pattern or significance of findings. Therefore, neither was retained in statistical models.