Effects of an incremental theory of the personality intervention on psychophysiological responses to social stress during the transition to college

Bibliographic Data

ID21625322
AuthorsEsther Calvete (0000-0002-6928-9557, Universidad de Deusto, corresponding author), Izaskun Orue (0000-0003-1322-6802, Universidad de Deusto), Ángel Prieto-Fidalgo (0000-0002-3259-2886, Universidad de Deusto), Joana Gómez-Odriozola (0000-0001-6004-4927, Universidad de Deusto), Sven C Mueller (0000-0003-1661-3840, Universidad de Deusto), Estíbaliz Royuela-Colomer (0000-0001-9912-9610, Universidad de Deusto), Aida Morea (0000-0002-5294-7293, Universidad de Deusto), Eneko Ruiz-Alonso (Universidad de Deusto), Maite Larrucea-Iruretagoyena (0000-0002-6192-9353, Universidad de Deusto), Todd D Little (0000-0002-4146-4712, Texas Tech University), Liria Fernández-González, Liria Fernández‐González (0000-0003-1411-0078, Universidad de Deusto)
Year2023
Volume42
Issue15
Pages12449-12462
Publication date2023-05-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueCurrent Psychology (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1046-1310 • E-ISSN: 1936-4733
PublisherSpringer Science and Business Media LLC (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1007/s12144-021-02681-9
OpenAlexW4205116290
LanguageEN
References cited46

This randomized controlled trial (NCT04786496) examined the effects of a preventive intervention based on Incremental Theory of the Personality (ITP) on psychophysiological responses to social stress and evaluated whether levels of depression moderate the intervention effects. The participants, 107 first-year university students, were randomly assigned to one of three conditions: ITP intervention, ITP + a self-affirmation intervention (SA), and a control condition (CC). Indicators of the Hypothalamic–Pituitary–Adrenal axis, autonomic nervous system, and subjective mood were assessed with the Trier Social Stress Task. Participants in the ITP condition displayed a lower decline in respiratory sinus arrythmia (RSA) compared to those in the CC during the first phases of the task [Slopes: -0.08 (0.09) vs -0.21 (0.09) , z = 2.86, p = .004] and a higher decrease in cortisol at recovery [β = -0.18 (0.08) , z = -2.37, p = .018]. Depressive symptoms moderated the effect of ITP [β = -0.10 (0.05) , z = -2.15, p =.032] and ITP+SA [β = -0.09 (0.04) , z = -2.06, p =.039] in the decline during stress and recovery in RSA. In participants with low/medium levels of depressive symptoms, both interventions predicted a lower decline during stress [Slopes: -0.06 (0.09) for ITP, -0.17 (.09) for ITP+SA, and -0.26 (0.09) for CC] and higher recovery in RSA [Slopes: 0.18 (0.01) for ITP, 0.24 (0.01) for ITP+SA, and 0.30 (0.01) for CC]. The findings suggest that the ITP intervention has the potential to be an effective preventive intervention to reduce the stress response

Blood pressure · Depressed mood · Developmental psychology · Fight-or-flight response · Heart rate · Heart rate variability · Mood · Personality · Psychiatry · Psychological intervention · Randomized controlled trial · Social stress · Trier social stress test · Vagal tone · Anxiety, Depression, Psychometrics, Treatment, Cognitive Processes · Child and Adolescent Psychosocial and Emotional Development · Clinical Psychology · Medicine · Mental Health Research Topics · Psychology · Internal Medicine