Year: 2006
Type: article
Study design: Clinical Trial
Abstract: How do social relationships get "under our skin" and affect health?This study tested whether the beneficial effects of social support on physiological reactivity could be replicated and extended to a clinically relevant health outcome: recovery of the skin's barrier function after minor disruption.The specific aims of this study were to: 1) Replicate previous research on acute stress-induced delays in skin barrier recovery; 2) Determine whether a social support manipulation before acute psychological stress would speed skin barrier recovery; 3) Investigate the effects of the social support manipulation on cardiovascular and cortisol reactivity; 4) Link stress-related cardiovascular and cortisol responses to skin barrier recovery; and 5) Characterize the time course of cortisol reactivity and recovery in response to acute stress.Prior to randomization, 85 healthy participants underwent "tape-stripping," a procedure that disrupts normal skin barrier function.Participants were then randomly assigned to a No Stress condition (reading alone), a Stress condition (public speaking), or a Stress + Social Support condition, involving support and encouragement from a laboratory confederate prior to the Stress task.Cardiovascular and cortisol responses were measured before and following the task.Skin barrier recovery was assessed by measuring transepidermal water loss from disrupted skin up to 2 h after tape-stripping.The acute stressor delayed skin barrier recovery after 2 h.Support provided by a confederate before the acute stressor did not reduce physiological reactivity or speed skin iii barrier recovery.While acute stress delayed skin barrier recovery, autonomic and cortisol reactivity were not related to skin barrier recovery.In addition, while cortisol reactivity and recovery are reliable patterns of change, they may not be truly distinct.These findings suggest that acute stress delays skin barrier recovery, and that the physiological mechanisms that explain stress-related delays in skin barrier recovery need additional study in humans.Dedicated to my parents,
Author: Theodore F. Robles
Institution: The Ohio State University
Language: English
Subfield: Behavioral Neuroscience
Field: Neuroscience
Domain: Life Sciences
Open Access status: green
Funder: Ohio State University
OpenAlex ID: W2210804828