Defayette Annamarie B, Esposito-Smythers Christianne, Cero Ian, Harris Katherine M, Whitmyre Emma D, López Roberto
Department of Psychology, George Mason University, 4400 University Drive, 3F5, Fairfax, VA 22030, USA.
Department of Psychiatry, University of Rochester Medical Center, 300 Crittenden Blvd., Rochester, NY 14642, USA.
J Mood Anxiety Disord. 2023 Aug;2. doi: 10.1016/j.xjmad.2023.100016. Epub 2023 Jul 28.
Interpersonal stress during adolescence and young adulthood can threaten healthy developmental trajectories. A "primed" proinflammatory response to acute stress may serve as an underlying process that results in negative outcomes for youth. The present pilot study examined the relation between interpersonal stress and two proinflammatory cytokines in a sample of 42 university-recruited emerging adults with recent suicidal thoughts and behaviors. Participants completed self-report measures of mood, suicidal thoughts and behaviors, recent peer-related stressors, and interpersonal sensitivity. They also participated in an acute laboratory social stress task and provided three saliva samples to measure their proinflammatory responses (IL-6 and TNF-α) to the stressor. Participants reported significant increases in sadness and exclusion, and significant decreases in inclusion, following task participation. Importantly, no participants reported an increase in or onset of suicidal thoughts. No significant associations between interpersonal stress and proinflammatory cytokines were found. Changes in affect during the task coupled with lack of increased suicidal thoughts indicate it is acceptable to use this exclusion and rejection paradigm with this population, with proper debriefing and positive mood induction procedures. Given all other nonsignificant associations, future research considerations are discussed, including impact of COVID-19 on task potency and incorporation of multiple stress response systems.
青春期和青年期的人际压力会威胁到健康的发展轨迹。对急性应激的“启动”促炎反应可能是导致年轻人出现负面结果的潜在过程。本试点研究在42名通过大学招募的、近期有自杀想法和行为的新兴成年人样本中，考察了人际压力与两种促炎细胞因子之间的关系。参与者完成了关于情绪、自杀想法和行为、近期与同伴相关的压力源以及人际敏感性的自我报告测量。他们还参与了一项急性实验室社会应激任务，并提供了三份唾液样本，以测量他们对压力源的促炎反应（白细胞介素-6和肿瘤坏死因子-α）。参与者报告称，任务参与后悲伤和被排斥感显著增加，而被接纳感显著下降。重要的是，没有参与者报告自杀想法增加或出现。未发现人际压力与促炎细胞因子之间存在显著关联。任务期间情绪的变化以及自杀想法没有增加，这表明在对该人群使用这种排斥和拒绝范式时，配合适当的汇报和积极情绪诱导程序是可以接受的。鉴于所有其他无显著关联的情况，讨论了未来的研究考虑因素，包括新冠疫情对任务效力的影响以及多种应激反应系统的纳入。
