We describe a method to administer a controlled, effective stressor to humans in the laboratory. The method combines the Trier Social Stress Test (TSST) and the Cold Pressor Test into a single, believable procedure called the Fear-Factor Stress Test (FFST). In the procedure, participants imagine auditioning for the reality television show Fear Factor. They stand before a video recorder and a panel of judges while (a) delivering a motivational speech, (b) performing a verbal arithmetic task, and (c) placing one hand into a bucket of ice water for up to 2 min. We measured subjective anxiety, heart rate, and salivary cortisol in three groups of young adults (n = 30 each, equal numbers of men and women): FFST, TSST, and Control (a placebo version of the FFST). Although the FFST and TSST groups were not distinguishable at the cortisol measure taken 5 min post-manipulation, at 35 min postmanipulation average cortisol levels in the TSST group had returned to baseline, whereas those in the FFST group continued to rise. The proportion of individual cortisol responders (≥ 2 nmol/l increase over baseline) in the TSST and FFST groups did not differ at the 5-min measure, but at the 35-min measure the FFST group contained significantly more responders. The findings indicate that the FFST induces a more robust and sustained cortisol response (which we assume is a marker of an HPA-axis response) than the TSST, and that it does so without increasing participant discomfort or incurring appreciably greater resource and time costs.
Published: 2014-06-01
The fear-factor stress test: an ethical, non-invasive laboratory method that produces consistent and sustained cortisol responding in men and women
Christopher du Plooy, Kevin G. F. Thomas, Michelle Henry, Robyn Human, W. Jake Jacobs
Cold Pressor Test (CPT), Cortisol, Hypothalamic-pituitary adrenal (HPA) axis, Physiological stressor, Psychosocial stressor, Trier Social Stress Test (TSST)
- Item Type: journalArticle
- Publication Title: Metabolic Brain Disease
- Volume: 29
- Pages: 385-394
- Series:
- Series Title:
- Series Text:
- Journal Abbreviation: Metab Brain Dis
- DOI: /10.1007/s11011-014-9484-9
- ISSN: 1573-7365
- Short Title: The fear-factor stress test
- Library Catalog: Springer Link