ArticleJournal of neural transmission (Vienna, Austria : 1996)2021
Gaze behavior is associated with the cortisol response to acute psychosocial stress in the virtual TSST.
Article in Journal of neural transmission (Vienna, Austria : 1996), 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 10 papers.
What it found
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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.
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Who cites it
10 citing papers in PubMed, 20 citations in OpenAlex.
- Effects of a group-based compassion microintervention compared to cognitive reappraisal training on cardiovascular, self-reported, and behavioral stress reactivity among young adults: A cluster randomized controlled trial.Applied psychology. Health and well-being · 2025Trial
- Open TSST VR: Psychobiological reactions to an open version of the Trier Social Stress Test in virtual reality.Behavior research methods · 2025Trial
- A systematic scoping review identifying effective virtual reality stress tasks inducing physiological reactivity for future wearables validation.Behavior research methods · 2026Review
- Inducing stress, experiencing stress: Reflections and recommendations for the Trier Social Stress Test.Comprehensive psychoneuroendocrinology · 2026Review
- Navigating Stress: Exploring the Role of Empathy in Caregiving.Developmental psychobiology · 2026Article
- A scoping review of eye-tracking metrics as an indicator of negative mental health-related outcomes and its possible applicability in remote work situations.Environmental and occupational health practice · 2023Review
- Virtual Reality Based Active Shooter Training Drill Increases Salivary and Subjective Markers of Stress.The Yale journal of biology and medicine · 2022Article
- Real sweating in a virtual stress environment: Investigation of the stress reactivity in people with primary focal hyperhidrosis.PloS one · 2022Article
- Article
- Recent developments in stress and anxiety research.Journal of neural transmission (Vienna, Austria : 1996) · 2021Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
4 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundThe Trier Social Stress Test (TSST) is a reliable tool for psychobiological stress induction. Because of its socio-evaluative nature, it has been useful for investigating gaze behavior. It has been shown that healthy people avoid looking toward faces when under stress, a finding that corroborates studies demonstrating avoidance of eye contact in social anxiety disorder. Yet, little is known about the relationship between gaze behavior and the biological stress response.
methodsIn a final sample of 74 healthy males, a virtual reality version of the Trier Social Stress Test (TSST-VR) with an integrated eye tracker was implemented to investigate gaze behavior during acute stress induction. Stress response measures were collected via saliva samples and subjective stress ratings. Additional questionnaires were administered for examining the influence of social anxiety traits.
resultsThe TSST-VR elicited a significant psychobiological stress response. Overall, higher gaze times on judges compared to surroundings were found in the speech task while this pattern was reversed in the arithmetic task. Critically, there was a significant negative association between gaze time on judges and cortisol output in cortisol responders.
conclusionsIn a non-clinical sample, avoidance of gaze is associated with a stronger cortisol response to acute stress. This study demonstrates the potential of eye tracking to disentangle the effects of acute stress on social interaction, warranting further investigation in clinical populations characterized by high levels of anxiety in social situations, such as social anxiety and autism spectrum disorder.
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Registered trials
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.