Evaluation of the socially evaluated cold-pressor group test (SECPT-G) in the general population
- Published
- Accepted
- Subject Areas
- Psychiatry and Psychology, Public Health
- Keywords
- SECPT, stress, groups, cortisol, alpha-amylase, sympathetic nervous system, HPA axis, general population, lifestyle factors, stress test
- Copyright
- © 2019 Becker et al.
- Licence
- This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, reproduction and adaptation in any medium and for any purpose provided that it is properly attributed. For attribution, the original author(s), title, publication source (PeerJ Preprints) and either DOI or URL of the article must be cited.
- Cite this article
- 2019. Evaluation of the socially evaluated cold-pressor group test (SECPT-G) in the general population. PeerJ Preprints 7:e27658v2 https://doi.org/10.7287/peerj.preprints.27658v2
Abstract
Background. In stress research, economic instruments for introducing acute stress responses are needed. In this study, we investigated whether the socially evaluated cold-pressor group test (SECPT-G) induces salivary alpha-amylase and/or cortisol responses in the general population and whether this is associated with anthropometric, experimental, and lifestyle factors.
Methods. A sample of 91 participants from the general population was recruited. Salivary cortisol and alpha-amylase (sAA) levels were assessed prior to (t0), immediately after (t1), and ten minutes after the SECPT-G (t2).
Results. A robust cortisol increase was found immediately after the SECPT-G, which further increased between t1 and t2. This was independent of most of the control variables. However, men showed a trend towards higher cortisol increases than women (p = .005). No sAA responses were found at all. However, sAA levels were dependent on measurement time point with highest levels between 9 pm and 9:30 pm. Participants who immersed their hands into the ice water for the maximally allowed time of three minutes showed higher sAA levels at all time points than participants who removed their hands from the water earlier.
Conclusions. We conclude that the SECPT-G is a good means of an acute stress test when cortisol – but not necessarily sAA – responses are intended.
Author Comment
The statistical analysis has been revised and new control variables (caffeine consumption and SECPT-G performance) have been included.