Psychological Sciences, University of California, Merced, CA, USA.
Anxiety Stress Coping. 2021 Jan;34(1):83-95. doi: 10.1080/10615806.2020.1839646. Epub 2020 Oct 30.
One mechanism by which acute psychosocial stress effects health-related cognitions and behaviors is through changes in the level of mental abstraction when processing information. However, it is unclear whether levels of mental abstraction would be higher or lower after an acute psychosocial stressor.
This research examined acute psychosocial stress's impact on levels of mental abstraction.
Randomized between-subjects experimental design.
A diverse sample of 164 undergraduate students aged 18-24 years old were randomly assigned to an acute psychosocial stressor or non-stressful control condition. Blood pressure (BP), heart rate (HR), and negative affect were monitored throughout the study and mental abstraction was measured at the end of each condition.
Mental abstraction was statistically significantly higher (i.e., more abstract) after the stress condition than after the control condition ( = 0.005, = 0.44). This association was partially explained by negative affect ( = 0.017), but not BP or HR ( > 0.60)
Acute psychosocial stress is associated with higher levels of mental abstraction after the stressor. These findings may have implications for stress-relevant interventions as accounting for the level of mental abstraction may enhance the efficacy of the intervention.
急性心理社会应激影响与健康相关的认知和行为的一种机制是通过在处理信息时改变心理抽象的水平。然而，尚不清楚在急性心理社会应激源后心理抽象水平是会更高还是更低。
本研究探讨了急性心理社会应激对心理抽象水平的影响。
随机分组的被试间实验设计。
将 164 名年龄在 18-24 岁之间的不同背景的大学生随机分配到急性心理社会应激源或无压力对照条件。在整个研究过程中监测血压 (BP)、心率 (HR) 和负性情绪，在每个条件结束时测量心理抽象水平。
与对照条件相比，应激条件后心理抽象水平明显更高（即更抽象）（ = 0.005， = 0.44）。这种关联部分被负性情绪所解释（ = 0.017），但与 BP 或 HR 无关（ > 0.60）。
急性心理社会应激与应激源后更高的心理抽象水平相关。这些发现可能对与应激相关的干预措施具有意义，因为考虑心理抽象水平可能会提高干预措施的效果。
