University of Twente Student Theses
Resilience to stress : the association of perseverative cognitions with heart rate recovery after the repeated Montreal Imaging Stress Test, and the role of trait mindfulness.
Schaaij, J. (2022) Resilience to stress : the association of perseverative cognitions with heart rate recovery after the repeated Montreal Imaging Stress Test, and the role of trait mindfulness.
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| Abstract: | Background: Stress recovery is important for one’s health to prevent the psychological and physiological consequences of stress. Specifically, decreased cardiovascular recovery severely affects the individuals functioning, underlining the usefulness of understanding which factors affect heart rate recovery (HRR). Previous research suggests that state perseverative cognitions (PC; rumination and worry) have a negative, while trait mindfulness has a positive influence on stress, but little is known regarding HRR. Examining the association with HRR may help improve physiological stress recovery. Current study: In the current study the relationship of state PC and trait mindfulness on HRR after a stress task were examined, as well as a moderation effect of trait mindfulness on the relationship of state PC and HRR. The aim was to increase the understanding of these factors’ influence to help prevent the consequences of ineffective stress recovery. Method: Secondary data of 46 participants was used from De Calheiros Velozo et al. (2021), who used the repeated Montreal Imaging Stress Task. Heart rate (HR) was measured prior, during, and after the task, and self-reports were filled in about trait mindfulness and state PC. The models included HRR (= HR during recovery-HR during stress) as the outcome variable while controlling for HR prior to the stress task. The predicting variables were PC and mindfulness, of which the latter was also a moderator in one of the three models. Results: Results indicated that participants differed greatly regarding HR in all testing phases. PC and mindfulness were not significant predictors for HRR, and no moderation effect was found. All analysed models explained little of the variance in HRR. Discussion: The results from the current study imply that state PC, and trait mindfulness do not have an influence on HRR after a stress task, which contradict previous research. Thus, this preliminary research would suggest that it is ineffective to take these factors into account when trying to improve HRR. However, the lack of variability and operationalisation of HRR indicated that the current results should be interpreted with caution. Future studies could use an alternative HRR variable, e.g., as a time-measure instead of a difference-measure, to enable better comparison with previous research. Additionally, with the low R2 (<.13) additional factors should be examined to increase insights into factors affecting HRR with the intention to effectively prevent the adverse effects of stress. |
| Item Type: | Essay (Master) |
| Faculty: | BMS: Behavioural, Management and Social Sciences |
| Subject: | 77 psychology |
| Programme: | Psychology MSc (66604) |
| Link to this item: | https://purl.utwente.nl/essays/92074 |
| Export this item as: | BibTeX EndNote HTML Citation Reference Manager |
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