Heart rate variability is associated with psychosocial stress in distinct social domains

Psychosocial stress is associated with substantial morbidity and mortality. Accordingly, there is a growing interest in biomarkers that indicate whether individuals show adaptive (i.e., stress-buffering and health-promoting) or maladaptive (i.e., stress-escalating and health-impairing) stress reactions in social contexts. As heart rate variability (HRV) has been suggested to be a biomarker of adaptive behavior during social encounters, it may be possible that inter-individual differences in HRV are associated with inter-individual differences regarding stress in distinct social domains.

Source: Journal of Psychosomatic Research - January 10, 2018 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: Alexander Lischke, Robert Jacksteit, Anett Mau-Moeller, Rike Pahnke, Alfons O. Hamm, Matthias Weippert Source Type: research