Renner Janis, Stanulla Miriam, Walther Andreas, Schindler Lena
Institute for Sex Research, Sexual Medicine and Forensic Psychiatry, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany.
Faculty of Psychology, Technische Universität Dresden, Dresden, Germany.
Compr Psychoneuroendocrinol. 2021 May 26;7:100061. doi: 10.1016/j.cpnec.2021.100061. eCollection 2021 Aug.
While romantic infatuation and separation influence psychological and physiological functioning, the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis with its biomarkers cortisol, dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA), and progesterone central for coping and distress has been scarcely researched in this context. In particular, endocrine hair analyses assumed to be more valid than saliva or blood assessments for studying long-term processes have not yet been conducted in the context of romantic love. Thus, 101 female subjects in phases of infatuation ( = 16), separation ( = 14), long-term relationships ( = 40), and singlehood ( = 31) reported psychological distress and provided 1 cm hair samples for the assessment of long-term integrated cortisol, DHEA, and progesterone over the last month. Separated, infatuated, and single women exhibited higher cortisol levels than those in a long-term relationship (all s ≤ .031), while self-reported distress was only evident in separated individuals. Further, no group differences for progesterone ( = .602), but higher DHEA levels in the separation ( = .009) and single group ( = .016) compared to the long-term relationship group were detected. This is the first study showing that compared to women in long-term relationships, infatuation, separation, and single groups exhibit higher levels of physiological, but not necessarily self-reported indicators of distress. These findings, albeit on a very small and preliminary sample, are discussed in the context of the stress-buffering effect of relationships, and provide important starting points for bigger, more balanced studies combining multimodal self-report and biological markers in psychological research of romantic love.
虽然浪漫的迷恋和分离会影响心理和生理功能，但下丘脑-垂体-肾上腺轴及其生物标志物皮质醇、脱氢表雄酮（DHEA）和孕酮在应对和困扰方面起着核心作用，而在这方面的研究却很少。特别是，对于研究长期过程而言，被认为比唾液或血液评估更有效的内分泌毛发分析尚未在浪漫爱情的背景下进行。因此，101名处于迷恋期（n = 16）、分离期（n = 14）、长期恋爱关系期（n = 40）和单身期（n = 31）的女性报告了心理困扰，并提供了1厘米的头发样本，用于评估过去一个月内长期综合的皮质醇、DHEA和孕酮水平。处于分离期、迷恋期和单身期的女性的皮质醇水平高于处于长期恋爱关系中的女性（所有p≤0.031），而自我报告的困扰仅在处于分离期的个体中明显。此外，孕酮水平无组间差异（p = 0.602），但与长期恋爱关系组相比，处于分离期（p = 0.009）和单身组（p = 0.016）的DHEA水平更高。这是第一项研究表明，与处于长期恋爱关系中的女性相比，迷恋期、分离期和单身组表现出更高水平的生理指标，但不一定是自我报告的困扰指标。尽管样本非常小且初步，但这些发现将在恋爱关系的压力缓冲效应的背景下进行讨论，并为在浪漫爱情心理研究中结合多模式自我报告和生物标志物的更大、更平衡的研究提供重要的起点。
