Biopsychology, Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, Faculty of Psychology, Ruhr University Bochum, Bochum, Germany; Experimental Psychology II and Biological Psychology, Institute of Psychology, School of Human Sciences, Osnabrück University, Osnabrück, Germany.
Cognitive Psychology, Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, Faculty of Psychology, Ruhr University Bochum, Bochum, Germany.
Psychoneuroendocrinology. 2025 Jan;171:107211. doi: 10.1016/j.psyneuen.2024.107211. Epub 2024 Oct 11.
Online test protocols are increasingly popular in psychological and neuroscientific research. Despite its relevance to the social functioning, the influence of acute stress on cognitive and affective state empathy is not clearly understood. Recently, a remote online version (TSST-OL) of the Trier Social Stress Test (TSST) was established for use in research with both children and adults. In general, the TSST-OL offers the opportunity for context-independent application (e.g., at the participants' home or in field contexts). However, in order to exploit this opportunity, it seems crucial to validate the TSST-OL across different settings and contextual variables. We compared stress reactivity in response to the TSST-OL at home and in the laboratory. In a 2 ×2 factorial design, N=120 participants (n=60 women) underwent the TSST-OL and an online adaption of the friendly TSST (fTSST-OL) either at home (n=60) or at the laboratory (n=60). Stress induction was evaluated in terms of physiological (cortisol and salivary alpha-amylase, sAA) and subjective stress and affect measures. Participants also completed an empathy performance task after stress and control exposure. Results confirmed that the TSST-OL successfully induced stress both when conducted at participants' homes and in the laboratory. Still, cortisol levels were higher during laboratory participation compared to application at home, likely due to anticipatory stress. Consequently, the TSST-OL in a home-based application seems to buffer anticipatory stress thus making it an attractive tool to study experimentally induced stress reactivity. Concerning empathy, positive emotions were generally better identified (cognitive empathy) and empathized (affective empathy) than negative emotions. For the latter, this difference was absent after stress, indicated by decreased affective empathy for positive emotions. Overall, this study indicates that the TSST-OL induces stress and validates the tool using a rigorous study design with sufficient participants and relevant stress parameters. Thus, future studies may apply the TSST-OL in different contexts and diverse samples. The findings on empathy under stress align with mixed results in existing research, highlighting the necessity for further investigations into empathy, considering various measurements, stimulus valence, and sex of the participant.
在线测试方案在心理和神经科学研究中越来越受欢迎。尽管急性应激对社会功能的影响与认知和情感同理心有关，但目前仍不清楚其具体影响。最近，特里尔社会应激测试（TSST）的远程在线版本（TSST-OL）被建立，用于儿童和成人的研究。一般来说，TSST-OL 提供了在独立于情境的环境中应用的机会（例如，在参与者的家中或现场环境中）。然而，为了利用这一机会，似乎需要在不同的设置和情境变量中验证 TSST-OL 的有效性。我们比较了在家中和实验室中进行 TSST-OL 时的应激反应。在 2×2 因子设计中，共有 120 名参与者（n=60 名女性）在家中（n=60）或实验室（n=60）接受了 TSST-OL 和友好 TSST 的在线改编版（fTSST-OL）。应激诱导通过生理（皮质醇和唾液 α-淀粉酶，sAA）和主观应激和情感测量来评估。参与者还在应激和对照暴露后完成了同理心表现任务。结果证实，TSST-OL 在家中和实验室中均能成功地诱导应激。然而，与在家中应用相比，在实验室中参与时皮质醇水平更高，这可能是由于预期性应激。因此，基于家庭的 TSST-OL 应用似乎可以缓冲预期性应激，从而使其成为研究实验性应激反应的有吸引力的工具。至于同理心，积极情绪通常比消极情绪更容易被识别（认知同理心）和同情（情感同理心）。对于后者，在应激后这种差异消失了，表现为对积极情绪的情感同理心降低。总的来说，这项研究表明，TSST-OL 可以诱导应激，并通过使用具有足够参与者和相关应激参数的严格研究设计来验证该工具。因此，未来的研究可以在不同的情境和不同的样本中应用 TSST-OL。在应激下的同理心研究结果与现有研究中的混合结果一致，强调需要进一步研究同理心，考虑各种测量、刺激效价和参与者的性别。
