ArticlePhysiology & behavior2015
Cardiovascular responses to an acute psychological stressor are associated with the cortisol awakening response in individuals with chronic neck pain.
Article in Physiology & behavior, 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 6 papers.
What it found
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Who cites it
6 citing papers in PubMed, 10 citations in OpenAlex.
- Measuring resilience to chronic pain in population surveys using hair cortisol.Psychological medicine · 2025Article
- Association of autonomic regulation with pain and disability in patients with chronic neck pain: a systematic review.Revista da Associacao Medica Brasileira (1992) · 2024Article
- Persistent inflammatory pain is linked with anxiety-like behaviors, increased blood corticosterone, and reduced global DNA methylation in the rat amygdala.Molecular pain · 2022Article
- Smart Sensor Based on Biofeedback to Measure Child Relaxation in Out-of-Home Care.Sensors (Basel, Switzerland) · 2020Article
- Chronic Pain and Chronic Stress: Two Sides of the Same Coin?Chronic stress (Thousand Oaks, Calif.) · 2017Article
- Why Harmless Sensations Might Hurt in Individuals with Chronic Pain: About Heightened Prediction and Perception of Pain in the Mind.Frontiers in psychology · 2016Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
4 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
introductionDysregulation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis (HPA-axis) is common in individuals who experience chronic psychological stress, as well as individuals with chronic pain. Changes in cortisol availability in the presence of a chronic stressor such as pain may influence the sympathetic-adrenal-medullary (SAM) system, which contributes to cardiovascular responses to stress and also exhibits altered responsiveness in the presence of pain. The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between HPA activity during the cortisol awakening response and cardiovascular reactivity during exposure to an acute psychological stressor in individuals with chronic neck pain.
methodsArea under the curve (AUC) of the salivary cortisol awakening response was assessed in 41 individuals with chronic neck pain aged 19-80 years (22 men, 23 women). Slopes representing the change in mean arterial pressure and heart rate during a baseline quiet sitting condition, a low stress condition with mental concentration, and a high stress condition combining mental concentration with social evaluative threat were calculated for each individual as an index of cardiovascular responsiveness to the acute stressor. Cardiovascular responses were regressed on cortisol awakening AUC and pain duration, adjusting for age and sex.
resultsGreater mean arterial pressure (β = -0.33, p = 0.02) and heart rate responses (β = -0.41, p = 0.007) to the acute psychological stressor were associated with lower cortisol awakening responses after adjusting for age and sex. Individuals with a shorter duration of chronic pain also demonstrated a larger increase in mean arterial pressure during the laboratory stressor (β = -0.39, p = 0.01), but there was no relationship between pain duration and changes in heart rate (p = 0.25).
conclusionsIndividuals with a shorter duration of chronic neck pain who demonstrate heightened cardiovascular responsiveness to an acute psychological stressor also exhibit lower cortisol awakening response. These results are consistent with time-dependent adaptations across the two major stress systems in the presence of chronic pain.
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