Psychology Publications and Other Works
Comparative Stress Responses in Generalized vs. Non-Clinical Populations: A Cortisol and Alpha-Amylase Study
This is my working thesis
Abstract
Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD) is a disorder that affects 6.8 million Americans. Cortisol is an established measure of stress response of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis (HPA axis), but Alpha-Amylase is a relatively new measure of stress response of the sympathetic-adrenal-medullary pathway (SAM pathway). Our aim was to compare the two stress responses in GAD vs. a non-clinical population to an anxious stimulus. 46 subjects either watched a stressful or neutral video. Saliva samples were taken at the beginning of the study, immediately after the video, and 30 minutes after the video. Subjects were also given the TMAS and BAI as measures of state and trait anxiety. There was a significant difference between GAD and non-clinical groups for baseline cortisol, TMAS, and BAI and a significant group*condition interaction for baseline cortisol. This study helps to further understand Alpha-Amylase as a measure or stress and also to differentiate the two stress response systems.