Effects of physical and psychological stressors on adolescents’ cortisol levels and self-perceived stress in school
Publisher DOI
Abstract
Both, psychosocial stress and exercise in the past have been used as stressors to elevate saliva cortisol and change state anxiety levels. In the present study, high-school students at the age of 14 were randomly assigned to three experimental groups: (1) an exercise group (n = 18), that was running 15 minutes at a medium intensity level of 65-75% HRmax, (2) a psychosocial stress group (n = 19), and (3) a control group (n = 18). The psychosocial stress was induced to the students by completing a standardized intelligence test under the assumption that their IQ scores would be made public in class. Results display that only psychosocial stress but not exercise was able to significantly increase cortisol levels but decreased cognitive state anxiety in adolescents. The psychosocial stress protocol applied here is proposed for use in future stress studies with children or adolescents in group settings, e.g., in school.
Date Issued
2014
Publication Type
Article
Subjects
Cortisol
•
state anxiety
•
social stress test
•
exercise
•
adolescents
•
school
Language(s)
en
Author(s)
Müller-Alcazar, Anett | |
Jäger, Anika | |
Machado, Sergio | |
Arias-Carrión, Oscar | |
Budde, Henning |
Additional Credits
Journal
CNS & Neurological Disorders - Drug Targets
Publisher
Bentham Science Publishers
ISSN
1871-5273
Access(Rights)
restricted