Exhausted Heart Rate Responses to Repeated Psychological Stress in Women With Major Depressive Disorder
Past research links depression and blunted cardiac vagal reactivity to chronic stress. Yet, to our knowledge no experiment investigates heart rate (variability) responses to a repeated laboratory stressor in patients with depression. Repeated exposure may provide valuable information on stress react...
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2022-04-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Psychiatry |
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| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyt.2022.869608/full |
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| author | Carmen Schiweck Carmen Schiweck Ali Gholamrezaei Maxim Hellyn Thomas Vaessen Elske Vrieze Elske Vrieze Stephan Claes Stephan Claes |
| author_facet | Carmen Schiweck Carmen Schiweck Ali Gholamrezaei Maxim Hellyn Thomas Vaessen Elske Vrieze Elske Vrieze Stephan Claes Stephan Claes |
| author_sort | Carmen Schiweck |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Past research links depression and blunted cardiac vagal reactivity to chronic stress. Yet, to our knowledge no experiment investigates heart rate (variability) responses to a repeated laboratory stressor in patients with depression. Repeated exposure may provide valuable information on stress reactivity in depression. Fifty-nine women (30 inpatients diagnosed with depression and 29 matched controls) underwent two consecutive runs of a mental arithmetic stress paradigm consisting of one baseline and two exposures to control, stress, and recovery phases of 5 min each, in a case-control design. Subjective stress and electrocardiography were recorded. Variance of heart rate (HR) and root mean square of successive RR interval differences (RMSSD) were analyzed using linear mixed models. Overall, physiological parameters (HR and RMSSD) and subjective stress showed a strong group effect (all p < 0.001). In both groups, subjective stress and HR increased in response to stress, but the subjective stress levels of patients with depression did not return to baseline levels after the first stressor and for the remainder of the experiment (all p < 0.004 compared to baseline). Patients’ HR reactivity responded oppositely: while HR recovered after the first stress exposure, no reactivity was observed in response to the second exposure. These findings may suggest that the often-reported blunted HR/HRV response to stressors results from exhaustion rather than an incapacity to react to stress. The altered HR reactivity could indicate allostatic (over-) load in depression. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-10T04:55:24Z |
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| id | doaj.art-f167f2cae4ad4bb5b839e45a970e1f78 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1664-0640 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-10T04:55:24Z |
| publishDate | 2022-04-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Psychiatry |
| spelling | doaj.art-f167f2cae4ad4bb5b839e45a970e1f782022-12-22T02:01:31ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Psychiatry1664-06402022-04-011310.3389/fpsyt.2022.869608869608Exhausted Heart Rate Responses to Repeated Psychological Stress in Women With Major Depressive DisorderCarmen Schiweck0Carmen Schiweck1Ali Gholamrezaei2Maxim Hellyn3Thomas Vaessen4Elske Vrieze5Elske Vrieze6Stephan Claes7Stephan Claes8Department for Psychiatry, Psychosomatic Medicine and Psychotherapy, University Hospital, Goethe University, Frankfurt, GermanyPsychiatry Research Group, Department of Neurosciences, KU Leuven, Leuven, BelgiumFaculty of Medicine and Health, Pain Management Research Institute, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, AustraliaDepartment for Psychiatry, Psychosomatic Medicine and Psychotherapy, University Hospital, Goethe University, Frankfurt, GermanyPsychiatry Research Group, Department of Neurosciences, KU Leuven, Leuven, BelgiumPsychiatry Research Group, Department of Neurosciences, KU Leuven, Leuven, BelgiumUniversity Psychiatric Centre, KU Leuven, Leuven, BelgiumPsychiatry Research Group, Department of Neurosciences, KU Leuven, Leuven, BelgiumUniversity Psychiatric Centre, KU Leuven, Leuven, BelgiumPast research links depression and blunted cardiac vagal reactivity to chronic stress. Yet, to our knowledge no experiment investigates heart rate (variability) responses to a repeated laboratory stressor in patients with depression. Repeated exposure may provide valuable information on stress reactivity in depression. Fifty-nine women (30 inpatients diagnosed with depression and 29 matched controls) underwent two consecutive runs of a mental arithmetic stress paradigm consisting of one baseline and two exposures to control, stress, and recovery phases of 5 min each, in a case-control design. Subjective stress and electrocardiography were recorded. Variance of heart rate (HR) and root mean square of successive RR interval differences (RMSSD) were analyzed using linear mixed models. Overall, physiological parameters (HR and RMSSD) and subjective stress showed a strong group effect (all p < 0.001). In both groups, subjective stress and HR increased in response to stress, but the subjective stress levels of patients with depression did not return to baseline levels after the first stressor and for the remainder of the experiment (all p < 0.004 compared to baseline). Patients’ HR reactivity responded oppositely: while HR recovered after the first stress exposure, no reactivity was observed in response to the second exposure. These findings may suggest that the often-reported blunted HR/HRV response to stressors results from exhaustion rather than an incapacity to react to stress. The altered HR reactivity could indicate allostatic (over-) load in depression.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyt.2022.869608/fullstress reactivityheart rate variabilityallostatic loaddepressionbiomarkerrepeated stress |
| spellingShingle | Carmen Schiweck Carmen Schiweck Ali Gholamrezaei Maxim Hellyn Thomas Vaessen Elske Vrieze Elske Vrieze Stephan Claes Stephan Claes Exhausted Heart Rate Responses to Repeated Psychological Stress in Women With Major Depressive Disorder Frontiers in Psychiatry stress reactivity heart rate variability allostatic load depression biomarker repeated stress |
| title | Exhausted Heart Rate Responses to Repeated Psychological Stress in Women With Major Depressive Disorder |
| title_full | Exhausted Heart Rate Responses to Repeated Psychological Stress in Women With Major Depressive Disorder |
| title_fullStr | Exhausted Heart Rate Responses to Repeated Psychological Stress in Women With Major Depressive Disorder |
| title_full_unstemmed | Exhausted Heart Rate Responses to Repeated Psychological Stress in Women With Major Depressive Disorder |
| title_short | Exhausted Heart Rate Responses to Repeated Psychological Stress in Women With Major Depressive Disorder |
| title_sort | exhausted heart rate responses to repeated psychological stress in women with major depressive disorder |
| topic | stress reactivity heart rate variability allostatic load depression biomarker repeated stress |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyt.2022.869608/full |
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