Papers by Wendy Berry Mendes
Journal of Family Psychology, Oct 1, 2020
Parents can influence children's emotional responses through direct and subtle behavior. In t... more Parents can influence children's emotional responses through direct and subtle behavior. In this study we examined how parents' acute stress responses might be transmitted to their 7- to 11-year-old children and how parental emotional suppression would affect parents' and children's physiological responses and behavior. Parents and their children (N = 214; Ndyads = 107; 47% fathers) completed a laboratory visit where we initially separated the parents and children and subjected the parent to a standardized laboratory stressor that reliably activates the body's primary stress systems. Before reuniting with their children, parents were randomly assigned to either suppress their affective state-hide their emotions from their child-or to act naturally (control condition). Once reunited, parents and children completed a conflict conversation and two interaction tasks together. We measured their sympathetic nervous system (SNS) responses and observed interaction behavior. We obtained three key findings: (a) suppressing mothers' SNS responses influenced their child's SNS responses; (b) suppressing fathers' SNS responses were influenced by their child's SNS responses; and (c) dyads with suppressing parents appeared less warm and less engaged during interaction than control dyads. These findings reveal that parents' emotion regulation efforts impact parent-child stress transmission and compromise interaction quality. Discussion focuses on short-term and long-term consequences of parental emotion regulation and children's social-emotional development. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).
Social Science Research Network, 2011
ABSTRACT Numerous studies have demonstrated that racial bias influences the decision to fire weap... more ABSTRACT Numerous studies have demonstrated that racial bias influences the decision to fire weapons for non-police officer samples. However, little evidence exists about how these biases operate under stressful situations. We investigated police officers’ decisions to shoot Black and White targets carrying guns or objects in a computer simulation. Officers’ decisions were examined under a stressful context in which the two primary stress systems were activated and under no-stress conditions. Results revealed that under stress, officers made more errors in their shooting decisions compared to no-stress conditions. However, officers were no more likely to make errors based on target race under stress compared to no-stress. Instead, under stress as cortisol increased, officers made fewer errors with armed Black targets, suggesting that HPA activation exacerbates vigilance for threat cues. This study demonstrates the importance of examining how hot situations can influence decision making even among highly trained police officers.
Social Psychological and Personality Science, Mar 27, 2023
Social relationships influence physical health, yet questions remain regarding the nature of this... more Social relationships influence physical health, yet questions remain regarding the nature of this association. For instance, when it comes to predicting health-relevant processes in daily life, few studies have examined (a) the relative importance of both positive and negative relational experiences, and (b) variability in relational experiences (in addition to mean levels). To address these gaps, we conducted a daily study ( N = 4,005; ~ 30,000 observations) examining relationships, stress, and physiology in daily life. Heart rate and blood pressure were assessed using an optic sensor and integrated with an app-based study. Results demonstrated that higher mean levels of positive and lower mean levels of negative relational experiences predicted lower stress, better coping, and better physiological functioning in daily life, such as lower systolic blood pressure reactivity. Greater variability in negative (but not positive) relational experiences predicted lower stress, better coping, and lower systolic blood pressure reactivity.
Sleep problems are increasingly being recognized as a public health epidemic. Over 69% of US adul... more Sleep problems are increasingly being recognized as a public health epidemic. Over 69% of US adults get less sleep than they need (Sleep in America Poll, 2014), and poor sleep is related to negative physical and mental health outcomes (for recent reviews, see Barnes & Drake, 2015; Buysse, 2014). Historically, sleep research has separated sleep from the social context in which it occurs and sleep has been largely neglected in social psychological research. However, researchers are increasingly recognizing the importance of considering the bidirectional links between sleep and social processes (Gordon, Mendes, & Prather, 2017). This work provides important evidence that how well we sleep affects how we interact with the social world. Similarly, how we interact with those around us affects how well we sleep. In Fig. 1, we present a conceptual model of these bidirectional links. In the following chapter, we summarize this research by providing illustrative examples of how sleep is linked to a variety of social processes from relationship conflicts to discrimination. We also suggest areas of future research, including the need to identify mechanisms and moderators.
Mindfulness, Sep 10, 2019
Objectives Mindfulness-based interventions have been found to reduce psychological and physiologi... more Objectives Mindfulness-based interventions have been found to reduce psychological and physiological stress reactivity. In obesity, however, stress reactivity is complex, with studies showing both exaggerated and blunted physiological responses to stressors. A nuanced view of stress reactivity is the "challenge and threat" framework, which defines adaptive and maladaptive patterns of psychophysiological stress reactivity. We hypothesized that mindfulness training would facilitate increased challengerelated appraisals, emotions, and cardiovascular reactivity, including sympathetic nervous system activation paired with increased cardiac output (CO) and reduced total peripheral resistance (TPR) compared to a control group, which would exhibit an increased threat pattern of psychophysiological reactivity to repeated stressors. Methods Adults (N = 194) with obesity were randomized to a 5.5-month mindfulness-based weight loss intervention or an active control condition with identical diet-exercise guidelines. Participants were assessed at baseline and 4.5 months later using the Trier Social Stress Task. Electrocardiogram, impedance cardiography, and blood pressure were acquired at rest and during the speech and verbal arithmetic tasks to assess pre-ejection period (PEP), CO, and TPR reactivity. Results Mindfulness participants showed significantly greater maintenance of challenge-related emotions and cardiovascular reactivity patterns (higher CO and lower TPR) from pre-to post-intervention compared to control participants, but groups did not differ in PEP. Findings were independent of changes in body mass index. Conclusions Mindfulness training may increase the ability to maintain a positive outlook and mount adaptive cardiovascular responses to repeated stressors among persons with obesity though findings need to be replicated in other populations and using other forms of mindfulness interventions.
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, Jul 29, 2021
Anxiety Stress and Coping, Nov 19, 2016
Background and objectives: Although it has been postulated that psychological responses to stress... more Background and objectives: Although it has been postulated that psychological responses to stress in adulthood are grounded in childhood experiences in the family environment, evidence has been inconsistent. This study tested whether two putative measures of neurobiological sensitivity (vagal flexibility and attentional capacity) moderated the relation between women's reported exposure to a risky childhood environment and current engagement in suppressive or avoidant coping in response to daily stress. Design and methods: Adult women (N = 158) recruited for a study of stress, coping, and aging reported on early adversity (EA) in their childhood family environment and completed a week-long daily diary in which they described their most stressful event of the day and indicated the degree to which they used suppression or avoidance in response to that event. In addition, women completed a visual tracking task during which heart rate variability and attentional capacity were assessed. Results: Multilevel mixed modeling analyses revealed that greater EA predicted greater suppression and avoidance only among women with higher attentional capacity. Similarly, greater EA predicted greater use of suppression, but only among women with greater vagal flexibility. Conclusion: Childhood adversity may predispose individuals with high neurobiological sensitivity to a lifetime of maladaptive coping.
Emotion, Oct 1, 2021
Gratitude and optimism are positive psychological dispositions associated with beneficial outcome... more Gratitude and optimism are positive psychological dispositions associated with beneficial outcomes. To examine their associations with physiological and psychological experiences in daily life, we examined data from an Ecological Momentary Assessment study (N = 4,825), including blood pressure, heart rate, and reports of stress, health behaviors, and thoughts. Trait gratitude and trait optimism both predicted lower heart rate and blood pressure, better sleep quality, more exercise, less stress, more positive expectations and reflections, and greater feelings of appreciation toward others. However, gratitude and optimism were not completely overlapping constructs: Gratitude was a stronger predictor of felt appreciation toward others and pleasantness when reflecting on the best part of the day, whereas optimism was a stronger predictor of sleep quality, lower stress, and lower unpleasantness when reflecting on the worst part of the day. These associations reveal both similar and differential influences of positive dispositions on psychological and physiological outcomes that provide insight into health consequences. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).
Psychosomatic Medicine, Jun 27, 2023
ABSTRACT Objective This study examined the within- and between-person associations of acute and c... more ABSTRACT Objective This study examined the within- and between-person associations of acute and chronic stress with blood pressure (BP) and heart rate (HR) using an app-based research platform. Methods We examined data from 31,964 adults (aged 18–90 years) in an app-based ecological momentary assessment study that used a research-validated optic sensor to measure BP. Results Within-person associations revealed that moments with (versus without) acute stress exposure were associated with higher systolic (SBP; b = 1.54) and diastolic BP (DBP; b = 0.79) and HR (b = 1.53; p values < .001). During moments with acute stress exposure, higher acute stress severity than usual was associated with higher SBP (b = 0.26), DBP (b = 0.09), and HR (b = 0.40; p values < .05). During moments without acute stress, higher background stress severity than usual was associated with higher BP and HR (SBP: b = 0.87, DBP: b = 0.51, HR: b = 0.69; p values < .001). Between-person associations showed that individuals with more frequent reports of acute stress exposure or higher chronic stress severity had higher SBP, DBP, and HR (p values < .05). Between-person chronic stress severity moderated within-person physiological responses to stress such that individuals with higher chronic stress severity had higher average BP and HR levels but showed smaller responses to momentary stress. Conclusions Technological advancements with optic sensors allow for large-scale physiological data collection, which provides a better understanding of how stressors of different timescales and severity contribute to momentary BP and HR in daily life.
Psychology and Aging, Mar 1, 2021
Does acute stress differentially alter cognitive functioning in older versus younger adults? Whil... more Does acute stress differentially alter cognitive functioning in older versus younger adults? While older adults may be better at handling stress psychologically, their physiological systems are less elastic, potentially impairing the cognitive functioning of older adults after a stressor. We examined cognition following an acute stressor among older (n = 65; ages 60-79) and younger (n = 61; ages 25-40) adults. Participants were randomized to complete the Trier Social Stress Test (TSST) in one of three conditions: (a) negative feedback, (b) positive feedback, or (c) no feedback. Participants reported mood states and appraisals of the speech task and we measured cortisol via saliva throughout the study. After the TSST, participants completed standard cognitive tasks to evaluate cognitive flexibility, problem solving, and short-term memory. Results showed that after the TSST, older adults took longer to solve problems compared with younger adults, though they were able to solve the same number of problems. Older adults showed less cognitive flexibility compared with younger adults in all conditions, a finding that was partially exaggerated in the positive feedback condition. There were no age-group differences in short-term memory; however, for older adults greater perceived resources and positive affect were associated with better memory performance. In sum, older and younger adults were both affected by acute stress, and older adults were not more (or less) vulnerable to the effects of stress on cognition, though they did show stronger associations between self-reported affective states and memory performance. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).
Psychosomatic Medicine, Apr 27, 2022
Scientific Reports, Oct 25, 2021
Patients and psychotherapists often exhibit behavioral, psychological, and physiological similari... more Patients and psychotherapists often exhibit behavioral, psychological, and physiological similarity. Here, we test whether oxytocin-a neuropeptide that can enhance expressivity and social perception-influences time-lagged "linkage" of autonomic nervous system responses among participants and facilitators during group therapy. Physiological linkage estimates (n = 949) were created from ten cohorts, each with two facilitators (n = 5) and four to six participants (n = 48), over six weekly sessions of group therapy for methamphetamine use disorder. All participants of a cohort received oxytocin or placebo intranasally in a randomized double-blind procedure before each session. Cardiac interbeat intervals (IBI) were measured continuously during sessions to estimate physiological linkage, operationalized as one cohort-mate's IBI reactivity during one minute predicting another cohort-mate's IBI reactivity during the following minute. In oxytocin cohorts, participants and facilitators experienced significant physiological linkage to their cohort-mates (i.e., their physiological responses were predicted by the prior responses of their cohort-mates) and significantly more linkage than people in placebo cohorts. Both effects occurred during the first and second sessions but not later sessions. Results suggest that oxytocin may enhance psychosocial processes often associated with linkage-such as social engagement-in groups and highlight oxytocin's potential to improve group cohesion during group therapy. Clinical Trials Registration: NCT02881177, First published on 26/08/2016. Patients and psychotherapists often exhibit similarity across behavioral, psychological, and physiological responses, which can be important for developing therapeutic alliance and helping patients learn skills modeled by their therapists 1,2. Synchrony of autonomic nervous system (ANS) responses has been of particular interest to researchers given its ability to develop quickly in new relationships and to reveal interpersonal dynamics that cannot otherwise be easily measured or even consciously known by patients and therapists 3-8. Early work focused on how similarity between patients' and therapists' heart rates mapped onto behavioral processes such as rapport and antagonism 9,10. More recent work has used experimental approaches to illuminate the processes that facilitate synchrony between therapists and patients 11,12. Because physiological synchrony has been tied to social processes that are important within psychotherapy-including engagement with others 11,13 , empathic accuracy 14,15 , interpersonal emotion regulation 16,17 , and relationship quality 18-21-understanding the conditions that foster synchrony in a therapeutic setting could help reveal pathways for improving the process of therapy and its outcomes. In the current research, we test whether the neuropeptide oxytocin influences physiological synchrony among group members during group psychotherapy. Specifically, we examine moment-to-moment physiological "linkage" of autonomic nervous system (ANS) responses in ten cohorts undergoing treatment for methamphetamine use disorder (MUD) using motivational interviewing group therapy (MIGT). Methamphetamine is a highly
Sleep, May 25, 2022
Scale, ESS), and fatigue (Multidimensional Assessment of Fatigue Scale, MAF). Participants also c... more Scale, ESS), and fatigue (Multidimensional Assessment of Fatigue Scale, MAF). Participants also completed cognitive tests (Stroop, Digit Span, and Simple Reaction Time). Subjects participated in a short lecture about healthy sleep hygiene habits and the importance of sleep and then repeated the one-week observational study. Results: Paired sample t-tests revealed a significant increase from baseline average sleep duration (M=5.83 hours) to post-intervention sleep duration (6.64 hours; t(13)=-2.532, p=.013). Sleep efficiency (actigraphy) and quality (PSQI) did not improve significantly. ESS scores decreased significantly (t(13)=3.76, p=.002 (pre M=9.29; post M=5.43) and MAF scores decreased significantly (t(13)=2.19, p=.047 (pre M=20.48; post M=15.60). A difference in reaction times for Stroop incongruent prompts approached significance (p=.083, pre M=979.46; post M=884.70), but no differences were found for errors, Digit Span, or Simple Reaction Times. Conclusion: The results of this study suggest that one educational lecture about sleep hygiene may be a start to improving sleep in college students. Even a 48-minute increase resulted in decreased sleepiness and fatigue. However, no improvements were found in sleep quality or efficiency. Although a slight improvement was found in reaction time, no other cognitive benefits were noted. More research should be conducted on how to improve sleep habits in college students beyond an educational approach. Support (If Any): None.
Annals of Behavioral Medicine, Jan 21, 2023
Background Sleep can have consequential effects on people's health and well-being, and these effe... more Background Sleep can have consequential effects on people's health and well-being, and these effects may vary among younger and older adults. Purpose: The goal of the present study was to investigate how sleep relates to physiologic and stress responses in daily life across adulthood. Methods We used an Ecological Momentary Assessment method in a large sample of participants (N = 4,359; M age = 46.75, SD = 12.39; 69.30% male, 29.85% female) who completed morning sleep diaries, reported subjective stress, and recorded their heart rate and blood pressure for 21 days. Sleep was assessed with self-reports of duration, efficiency, and quality. Results Using multilevel modeling, between-person analyses showed that sleep duration, efficiency, and quality were negatively related to morning heart rate and stress, such that people who slept longer, more efficiently, or better experienced lower heart rate and stress compared to those who slept shorter, less efficiently, or worse. Within-person analyses showed that sleep duration, efficiency, and quality predicted morning heart rate, blood pressure (though less consistently), and stress. That is, people experienced lower heart, blood pressure, and stress following nights when they slept longer, more efficiently, or better than they typically did. These within-person relationships were moderated by age, such that the effects of better and longer sleep on lower morning heart rate, blood pressure, and stress were stronger among younger than older adults. Conclusion These findings suggest that daily variations in sleep show immediate associations with stress and physiologic responses, but these daily variations have a stronger relationship among younger compared to older adults.
Group Processes & Intergroup Relations, Dec 30, 2019
Many of the most important decisions in our society are made within groups, yet we know little ab... more Many of the most important decisions in our society are made within groups, yet we know little about how the physiological responses of group members predict the decisions that groups make. In the current work, we examine whether physiological linkage from "senders" to "receivers"-which occurs when a sender's physiological response predicts a receiver's physiological response-is associated with senders' success at persuading the group to make a decision in their favor. We also examine whether experimentallymanipulated status-an important predictor of social behavior-is associated with physiological linkage. In groups of five, we randomly assigned one person to be high-status, one low-status, and three middle-status. Groups completed a collaborative decision-making task that required them to come to a consensus on a decision to hire one of five firms. Unbeknownst to the three middle status members, high-and low-status members surreptitiously were told to each argue for different firms. We measured cardiac interbeat intervals of all group members throughout the decision-making process to assess physiological linkage. We found that the more receivers were physiologically linked to senders, the more likely groups were to make a decision in favor of the senders. We did not find that people were physiologically linked to their group members as a function of their group members' status. This work identifies physiological linkage as a novel correlate of persuasion and highlights the need to understand the PHYSIOLOGICAL LINKAGE DURING GROUP DECISION-MAKING 3 relationship between group members' physiological responses during group decision-making.
Annals of Surgery
Objective: Physiologic responses of surgery team members under varying levels of intraoperative r... more Objective: Physiologic responses of surgery team members under varying levels of intraoperative risk were measured. Background: Measurement of intraoperative physiological responses provides insight into how operation complexity, phase of surgery, and surgeon seniority impact stress. Methods: Autonomic nervous system responses (interbeat intervals, IBIs) were measured continuously during operations. Role (attending surgeon, surgical resident, operating room nurse), risk of operation (high, low), and primary operator (attending surgeon, resident) predicted IBI reactivity. Physiologic synchrony captured the degree of correspondence between individuals’ physiologic responses within timepoint. Results: 10,005 observations of IBI reactivity were recorded in 26 participants during 16 high-risk (renal transplant and laparoscopic donor nephrectomy) and low-risk (arteriovenous fistula formation) operations. Attending surgeons showed greater IBI reactivity (faster heart rate) than residents a...
BMC Health Services Research
Background Person-centered maternity care (PCMC) has become a priority in the global health disco... more Background Person-centered maternity care (PCMC) has become a priority in the global health discourse on quality of care due to the high prevalence of disrespectful and lack of responsive care during facility-based childbirth. Although PCMC is generally sub-optimal, there are significant disparities. On average, women of low socioeconomic status (SES) tend to receive poorer PCMC than women of higher SES. Yet few studies have explored factors underlying these inequities. In this study, we examined provider implicit and explicit biases that could lead to inequitable PCMC based on SES. Methods Data are from a cross-sectional survey with 150 providers recruited from 19 health facilities in the Upper East region of Ghana from October 2020 to January 2021. Explicit SES bias was assessed using situationally-specific vignettes (low SES and high SES characteristics) on providers’ perceptions of women’s expectations, attitudes, and behaviors. Implicit SES bias was assessed using an Implicit A...
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Papers by Wendy Berry Mendes