Evidence map›Paper›PMID 32160797›Full record

ArticleStress (Amsterdam, Netherlands)2021

Validity of the Trier Social Stress Test in studying discrimination stress.

Kate Keenan, Johnny Berona, Alison E Hipwell, Stephanie D Stepp, Madelaine T Romito

Open access · greenAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Stress (Amsterdam, Netherlands), 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 10 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
10citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
0.7field-weighted citation impact, top 38% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

10 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 15 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Trial
  3. Cortisol Stress Response is Associated with Iron Status in Pregnancy.medRxiv : the preprint server for health sciences · 2026
    Article
  4. Article
  5. Article
  6. Article
  7. Article
  8. Gay men's stress response to a general and a specific social stressor.Journal of neural transmission (Vienna, Austria : 1996) · 2021
    Article
  9. Review
  10. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

5 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.

Kate KeenanDepartment of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neuroscience, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA.
Johnny BeronaDepartment of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neuroscience, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA.
Alison E HipwellDepartment of Psychiatry, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA.
Stephanie D SteppDepartment of Psychiatry, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA.
Madelaine T RomitoDepartment of Psychiatry, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA.
University of Pittsburgh · USUniversity of Chicago · US

Funding

Resilience to prenatal stress: Implications for offspring health and neurodevelopmentUH3OD023244 · OD · UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH AT PITTSBURGH · PI ALISON E HIPWELL · 2018 to 2026
$15.1M
Examining biomarkers and mechanisms of health disparities in sexual minority womenR01HL137246 · NHLBI · UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO · PI KEENAN, KATHRYN ELIZABETH · 2017 to 2020
$3.2M
NHLBI NIH HHS R01 HL137246NIH HHS UH3 OD023244
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

To test the validity of a modified Trier Social Stress Test (TSST) for studying stress reactivity in sexual minority women. Two hundred seventy-four female participants (66.4% Black American), half of whom identified as lesbian/gay or bisexual and half as heterosexual, completed the TSST with instructions to describe an experience of discrimination. Cortisol levels and negative emotion scores increased, and heart rate variability decreased in response to the TSST, and the magnitude of these responses varied as a function of sexual orientation and race. Women who discussed sexual orientation as a source of discrimination had greater increases in cortisol and negative mood following the TSST. The modified instructions did not compromise the validity of the TSST. Prompting participants to discuss specific sources of discrimination may be a useful adaptation of the TSST in studying minority stress reactivity. SUMMARY The goal of the present study was to adapt a widely used measure of stress reactivity to study the impact of experiences with discrimination on biological systems involved in regulating the stress response. The modification included asking women to discuss a time when they had been treated unfairly and to describe how they responded to that experience. The magnitude of response to the task varied as a function of sexual orientation and race, and the topics discussed, demonstrating usefulness of the modification for studying the impact of discrimination stress of physical health.

Indexed as

Homosexuality, FemaleStress, PsychologicalFemaleHeterosexualityHumansHydrocortisoneMalePsychological TestsHydrocortisonecortisolDiscriminationheart rate variabilityLGBTQTrier Social Stress Testwomen

Identifiers

PMID32160797
PMCPMC7541629
OpenAlexW3011838695

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceTDM
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.