Habitual catecholamine excretion and its relation to habitual distress.

In order to study interindividual differences in habitual subjective and physiological arousal a scale for measuring subjective arousal in the course of daily living was constructed and evaluated (the day-to-day stress scale, DtDSS) and urine samples for estimating free catecholamines were obtained on 17 occasions from each of 20 male subjects during a period of approximately 48 h. Samples were collected at home during daily activities and night rest, as well as under laboratory conditions, when periods of activity and inactivity alternated. The results showed: (1) that scores on the DtDSS correlated significantly with average adrenaline level, and (2) that low physiological reactivity was indicative of neuroticism.