Faculty of Psychology, Southwest University, Chongqing, China.
Key Laboratory of Cognition and Personality, Southwest University, Chongqing, China.
Psychophysiology. 2021 Oct;58(10):e13892. doi: 10.1111/psyp.13892. Epub 2021 Jul 3.
Recent studies suggest that reward anticipation decreases individuals' acute stress responses. However, individuals who have experienced early life stress (ELS) may have a blunted capacity for reward anticipation, which reduces its buffering effect on psychosocial stress responses. To investigate this phenomenon, 66 young adults completed the Trier Social Stress Test following a reward anticipation task, and their ELS levels were measured using the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (CTQ). Meanwhile, the current study collected biological and psychological measures of stress by analysing cortisol levels, heart rates, heart rate variability (HRV) as well as subjective stress levels, in response to the Trier Social Stress test. Results showed that reward anticipation successfully decreased acute stress responses in general, and it also improved participants' HRV. However, this effect was more evident in individuals with low ELS than those with high ELS. These findings help us deepen understanding of the role of reward anticipation in fostering resilience under stress and the potentially important implications for individuals who have been exposed to ELS are also discussed.
最近的研究表明，奖励预期会降低个体的急性应激反应。然而，经历过早期生活压力（ELS）的个体可能对奖励预期的能力减弱，从而降低了它对心理社会应激反应的缓冲作用。为了研究这一现象，66 名年轻成年人在完成奖励预期任务后完成了特里尔社会应激测试，他们的 ELS 水平使用童年创伤问卷（CTQ）进行测量。同时，本研究通过分析皮质醇水平、心率、心率变异性（HRV）以及对特里尔社会应激测试的主观应激水平，收集了应激的生物学和心理学测量值。结果表明，奖励预期通常可以成功降低急性应激反应，还可以改善参与者的 HRV。然而，这种效果在 ELS 水平低的个体中比 ELS 水平高的个体中更为明显。这些发现有助于我们加深对奖励预期在压力下培养韧性的作用的理解，并且还讨论了对经历过 ELS 的个体的潜在重要意义。
