The purpose of this book is to present state-of-the-art non-invasive methods of measuring the biological responses to psychosocial stress in humans, in non-laboratory (field) settings. Following the pathways of Seyle's General Adaptation Syndrome, the text first describes how to assess the psychosocial stressors of everyday life and then outlines how to measure the psychological, behavioral, neurohumeral, physiological and immunological responses to them. The book concludes with practical information on assessing special populations, analyzing the often-complicated data that are collected in field stress studies and the ethical treatment of human subjects in stress studies. It is intended to be a practical guide for developing and conducting psychophysiological stress research in human biology. This book will assist students and professionals in designing field studies of stress.
Author(s): Gillian H. Ice, Gary D. James
Series: Cambridge Studies in Biological and Evolutionary Anthropology
Edition: 1
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Year: 2007
Language: English
Pages: 285
Cover......Page 1
Half-title......Page 3
Series-title......Page 4
Title......Page 7
Copyright......Page 8
Contents......Page 9
Contributors......Page 11
Foreword......Page 13
Part I General principles......Page 15
Introduction......Page 17
Definitions of stress and their origins......Page 18
Putting the models together: the stress process......Page 26
Stressors......Page 27
Mediators and moderators......Page 28
Appraisal......Page 30
Distress or affective response......Page 31
Physiological response......Page 32
Biological, environmental and cultural context......Page 33
Health outcomes......Page 34
Summary......Page 35
References......Page 36
Part II Measuring stress responses......Page 39
Culture and the stress process......Page 41
Chronic sociocultural stressors......Page 45
Acute sociocultural stressors......Page 51
Social resources......Page 53
Coping resources......Page 55
Psychological stress......Page 57
Anthropological studies of the stress process: some implications......Page 58
New directions in research: a theory of cultural consonance......Page 61
Summary......Page 67
References......Page 69
Interview methods......Page 74
Appraisal......Page 75
Affective response......Page 78
Behavioral response......Page 79
Creating a culturally specific scale......Page 80
Scale development......Page 82
Reliability......Page 84
Validity......Page 86
Interviewer training......Page 88
Diary methods......Page 90
Diary method......Page 91
What to record......Page 93
Mode of recording......Page 94
Coding......Page 95
Sampling procedure......Page 96
Mode of recording......Page 98
Other considerations for observational data......Page 99
Resource list......Page 100
References......Page 101
4 Measuring hormonal variation in the sympathetic nervous system: catecholamines......Page 108
Activation of the stress response......Page 109
Effects of SNS activation......Page 111
Measuring SAMS activity......Page 113
A need for standardization in the use of urinary catecholamines......Page 117
Relationship between catecholamines and other stress measures......Page 119
Age......Page 120
Body size......Page 121
Psychological aspects of SAMS activation......Page 122
Anthropological field studies of catecholamine responses to stress......Page 124
Conclusion......Page 126
References......Page 127
What is cortisol?......Page 136
What does cortisol do?......Page 137
Short-term physiologic effects......Page 138
Links with disease......Page 139
Saliva......Page 140
Equipment needed for collection of saliva......Page 141
Assay techniques......Page 143
Circadian rhythm......Page 144
Season......Page 146
Age......Page 147
Pregnancy, oral contraceptive use and the menstrual cycle......Page 149
Exercise......Page 150
Saliva samples......Page 151
Urine samples......Page 154
Laboratory studies......Page 155
Naturalistic studies......Page 157
Chronic stress and the HPA axis......Page 159
Labs......Page 160
Equipment/supplies......Page 161
References......Page 162
Introduction......Page 172
What is blood pressure and how is it commonly measured?......Page 173
The unreliability of standardized auscultatory blood pressure measurements......Page 175
Why is blood pressure considered a physiological indicator of stress?......Page 176
Ambulatory blood pressure monitoring: technical aspects......Page 177
How has the accuracy of the devices been established?......Page 179
The process of collecting ambulatory blood pressure data......Page 180
Making sense of ambulatory blood pressure variation: direct observation and diaries......Page 182
Study design......Page 185
Evaluating the ambulatory blood pressure literature......Page 188
References......Page 190
Introduction......Page 195
Stress, immune function, and disease......Page 196
Current research in psychoneuroimmunology......Page 197
The EBV antibody model......Page 200
Sample collection, transport, and storage......Page 202
Laboratory analysis......Page 205
The CRP model......Page 206
Laboratory analysis......Page 208
Measuring immune function in the field......Page 209
Future directions......Page 213
Conclusion......Page 214
References......Page 215
Part III Practical issues in studying stress......Page 223
Stress and reproductive function......Page 225
Stress and pregnancy......Page 227
Measuring stress in women, infants and children......Page 228
Stress, cognitive function and the brain......Page 229
Stress, aging and gender......Page 230
Measuring stress in older populations......Page 232
Measuring stress in non-clinical settings......Page 233
References......Page 235
Research design and the constraints of data collection......Page 240
Natural experiments......Page 243
Model testing......Page 245
Natural experiments......Page 246
Model testing......Page 247
Single-measure studies......Page 250
Multiple-measure studies......Page 252
Data management, documentation and sharing......Page 255
References......Page 257
10 Protection of human subjects in stress research: an investigator’s guide to the process......Page 260
Guidelines for ethical research using human subjects......Page 261
IRB structure......Page 262
Determining factors in IRB research review: What are they looking for?......Page 263
Confidentiality and risk......Page 264
Study approval: expedited and full-board review......Page 265
The consenting process in adults......Page 269
Consenting process in minors: parental permission......Page 273
Assent......Page 274
Research involving deception......Page 275
Waived written informed consent......Page 276
Health insurance portability and accountability act regulations: getting permissions......Page 277
Researcher educational requirements......Page 278
References......Page 279
11 Epilog: summary and future directions......Page 280
References......Page 282
Index......Page 283
