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The Effect of Emotional Comments on Cortisol in Healthy Adults

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Dissertation(1.7 MB)

Date

2022

Authors

Supervisor

Wang, Grace

Item type

Dissertation

Degree name

Bachelor of Health Science (Honours)

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Publisher

Auckland University of Technology

Abstract

Expressed emotion (EE), is a measure of the emotional temperature of the family environment which encompasses different interaction patterns and the quality of the relationships within the family. Evidence suggests that perceived EE is one of the major psychological stressors that predicts clinical outcomes in various mental disorders. Few studies have investigated the effect of EE on hypothalamic-pituitaryadrenal (HPA)-axis activity suggesting the potential linear relationships. However, the level of perceived EE can be modulated by individual characteristics, such as negative mood and attachment with family. This study investigated the link between levels of the stress hormone cortisol and sensitivity to EE (through ratings of arousal and relevance), as well as attachment and psychological well-being (stress, anxiety and depression) using standardised psychometric measures among participants (N= 26). This study found that there was no significant correlation between cortisol levels and EE (arousal and relevance ratings) across the positive, critical, or neutral comment condition. The findings from this study suggest that salivary cortisol changes might be somewhat independent from self-report perception of EE, at least in healthy participants. However, individual sensitivity to criticism is likely to be heightened by ones perceived life stress, current depressive mood, and anticipation of punishment (or punishment and reward sensitivity). Further research is recommended to further investigate this link in depth with a larger sample and the addition of a clinical population to assess the differences and further validate the current findings.

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Permanent link

https://hdl.handle.net/10292/14988

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Bachelor with Honours Dissertations - open access